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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 














































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LETTER 


IN ANSWER TO 

THE HON. JOHN M. CLAYTON, 


SECRETARY OF STATE, 


INTER-MARINE COMMUNICATIONS: 


BY 


BREV’T LT. COL. GEO. W. HUGHES, 


Corps of Topographical Engineers. 




WASHINGTON: 

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IN ANSWER TO 


THE HON. JOHN M. CLAYTON, 


SECRETARY OF STATE, 


INTERMARINE COMMUNICATIONS: 


4 


BY 


JSJ 

BREV’T LT. COL. GEO. W. HUGHES, 


Corps of Topographical Engineers. 






Since the publication of the following Communication, in the National Intelligence? 
of the 22d and 24th November, 1849, it has undergone some slight verbal corrections, 
and a few unimportant additions have been made to it. 

March 4th, 1850. 




From the Secretary of State to Col . Hughes . 


Department of State, 
Washington, September 4th ,, 1849 

Col. George W. Hughes, 

U. S. Tographical Engineers. 

Sir : In the conversation I had with you last evening on several 
topics of deep concern to the present and future interests of our 
country, I was struck by your judicious and intelligent observations 
on the subject of the various routes for connecting the Atlantic 
and Pacific Oceans, which have so long been discussed before the 
world, and which have now assumed an extraordinary importance. 
The subject is one which attracted my attention twenty years ago, 
since which time it has never ceased to occupy my mind; and I 
have neglected no occasion of seeking from well-informed persons 
accurate, reliable, and useful information in regard to it, such as 
might be calculated to diffuse light among our citizens, and serve 
as a safe guide to the public councils of the nation. With these 
objects very much at heart, I made a verbal request that you 
would do me the favor to address a communication to me upon 
the points we conversed about, entering fully into the questions 
they involve, and giving in detail your views and opinions thereon, 
and the considerations and facts upon which they are based, and 
presenting such information and suggestions as your experience 
and knowledge will enable you to submit. 

Your attention is specially invited to the importance of a ship- 
canal, of such dimensions as to admit vessels of the largest class, 
connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans; and you are requested 
to state whether there is reason to believe that such a route or 
routes may be found across the American Isthmus, and if so, 
where ?—the length, capacity, supply of water, dimensions, and 
probable cost of the construction of a work on the most eligible 
line that is known to exist, best calculated to subserve the great 
ends of commerce of the civilized world, and of the present and 
prospective trade of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. 

You are also requested to present your views at large in refer¬ 
ence to the different projects which have been presented to the 
public for a railroad from the Mississippi to the Pacific, exclusively 
within the territories of the United States ; and you will be pleased 
to submit all the information you may have been able to collect 
touching this important question. 
#####*### 

Would it not, in your opinion, be very important to the United 
States Government, to cause a careful scientific survey to be made 
of the Nicaragua route ? 

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

JOHN M. CLAYTON. 


Col. Hughes to the Secretary of State , 

Washington, October 25, 184$, 

To the Hon. John M. Clayton, 

Secretary of State: 

Sir : In reply t6 your letter of the 4th September last, requesting 1 
my opinion in reference to the various proposed intermarine com¬ 
munications between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, I have the 
honor to submit the following pamper: 

The dangers, difficulties, and delays attending the voyage around 
Cape Horn, and the peculiar configuration of the American Isth¬ 
mus, offering to the eye extraordinary facilities for establishing a 
safer, less expensive, and more rapid communication between those 
great seas, naturally suggested, at an early period after the dis¬ 
covery of the Pacific, in the year 1513, by Nunez de Balboa, the 
project of an artificial communication from ocean to ocean. This 
grand idea has acquired additional interest since the revolu¬ 
tion of Spanish America, which has thrown open the trade of that 
magnificent country—rich in agricultural productions and mineral 
wealth—to the civilized world; and this interest has been greatly 
excited by the introduction of oceanic steam navigation , the in¬ 
crease of East Indian commerce, and the acquisition of California 
by a race rapidly developing its immense resources. The time 
seems at last to have arrived when the commercial world, and 
the civilization of the nineteenth century, call imperatively for the 
realization of this long-cherished object. There is no nation so 
deeply interested in it as our own, for it is emphatically an Amer¬ 
ican work; and it is a matter of congratulation that one who has 
held and who holds so high a position, and exercised so powerful an 
influence in our public councils, as yourself, should so long since 
have called the attention of the Government of the United States to 
this subject, and should still continue to encourage its execution. 

When we consider the remarkable progress which has been 
made, especially during the present century, in facilitating com¬ 
merce, opening new means of communication, and prosecuting 
geographical researches in almost every portion of the globe, and 
reflect upon the long period in which the connexion of the Atlantic 
and Pacific Oceans has been agitated by Governments and scien¬ 
tific men, it is a source of wonder and astonishment, as it should 
be of humiliation and regret, that we possess so little exact and 
reliable information on the subject. Few scientific observers have 
traversed the American Isthmus, and with the exception of a sin¬ 
gle route, (and that we owe to the enterprise and munificence of 
an association of American gentlemen,) but little data have been 
collected on which to found the plans for an actual work. The 
elements which are essential for the digesting of such a project, 
the minute levels and topography, the geology and meteorology, 
the soundings of the rivers, lakes, bays, and harbors, and the guag- 
ing of the streams, are, with the exception already made, either 
entirely wanting or extremely defective. It is true that some 



5 


levels have been determined by the barometer, but no survey con¬ 
ducted on such a principle is calculated to convey an adequate 
idea of the difficulties to be encountered, or of the quantity of work 
to be executed; and can only be regarded as a better kind of to¬ 
pographical reconnoissance. 

Baron Yon Humboldt appears never to have visited the isthmus, 
and the scanty information he has published was derived from 
other and less careful explorers, w r ho seem to have adopted vague 
generalities and popular ncttions, rather than sound philosophical 
theories, based on instrumental observations, on which alone we 
can safely rely. Even the illustrious savans, La Condamine and 
Ulloa, who sojourned three months in the vicinity of Panama, 
(after having crossed from the mouth of Rio Chagre to the Pacific,) 
failed to ascertain the height of the dividing ridge between the 
oceans, and added but little to the unsatisfactory results of Dam- 
pier and Wafer; and, in fact, the problem of the actual summit 
or lowest depression of that ridge remained undetermined until 
the present year, although it had afforded a fruitful subject of dis¬ 
cussion for more than three centuries, and the feasibility of con¬ 
necting the oceans depended on its solution. 

As it regards the vast importance of an intermarine communi¬ 
cation across the American continent, and the immense results to 
be produced by its completion, I shall offer no observations, from 
the persuasion that it is a matter now fully understood and uni¬ 
versally appreciated. I cannot, however, resist the desire of pre¬ 
senting the following remarks of the Edinburgh Review on this 
most interesting subject: 

“ We are tempted to dwell for a moment upon the prospects 
which the accomplishment of this splendid but not difficult enter¬ 
prise opens to our nation. It is not merely the immense com¬ 
merce of the western shores of America, extending almost from 
pole to pole, that is brought as it were to our door; it is not the 
intrinsically important, though comparatively moderate branch 
of our commerce, that of the South Sea whalers, that will alone 
undergo a complete revolution, by saving the tedious and danger¬ 
ous voyage round Cape Horn. The whole of those immense in¬ 
terests we hold deposited in the regions of Asia, will become 
augmented in value to a degree which, at present, it is not easy 
to conceive, by obtaining direct access to them across the Pacific 
ocean. It is the same thing as if, by some great revolution of the 
globe, our eastern possessions were brought nearer to us. The 
voyage across the Pacific, the winds both for the eastern and 
western passage being fair and constant, is so expeditious and 
steady that the arrival of the ships may be calculated almost with 
the accuracy of a mail coach. Immense would be the traffic 
which would immediately begin to cover that ocean, by denomi¬ 
nation Pacific. All the riches of India and of China would move 
towards America. The riches of Europe and America would 
move towards Asia. Vast depots would be formed at the great 
commercial towns, which would immediately arise at the two ex- 


6 


tremities of the central canal. The goods would be in a course 
of perpetual passage from one depot to the other; and would be 
received by the ships as they arrived, which were prepared to con¬ 
vey them to their ultimate destination.” 

Nature has clearly pointed out the long and, in many places, 
narrow strip of land, which may geographically be called the • 
“ American Isthmus ”—and I wish to consider it as a whole-—con¬ 
necting North and South America, as the region of country of¬ 
fering the greatest facilities, and interposing the fewest physical 
difficulties for establishing the oceanic communication now un¬ 
der consideration. It is there that we must look for the most 
equable temperature, for the shortest line, and the least elevation 
above the level of the tides between the arctic circle and the 
Strait of Magellan. I shall therefore avoid all reference to pro¬ 
jected routes south of the Gulf of Darien. This great isthmus, 
of variable width, may be defined as extending from Tehuan¬ 
tepec to the Gulf of Darien, stretching from latitude 16° 30' N. 
to 8° N., and from 95° of west longitude to 77°. This designa¬ 
tion also includes what is termed the “ Isthmus of Darien,” ex¬ 
tending from the Laguna Chiriqui to the Gulf of Darien on the 
Atlantic, and from the Gulf of Dulce to the Gulf of San Miguel 
on the Pacific, trending in its general course nearly due east and 
west from the Gulf of Darien to the Gulf of Dulc6, between 77° 
and 85° of longitude west of Greenwich. Its narrowest part 
from tide-water in the one ocean to tide-water in the other, (less 
than thirty miles,) being from the Rio Chagre to the Rio Grande, 
near Panama. 

It was supposed, until Mr. Hopkins showed the contrary, that 
the Cordilleras, or “ the great back bone” of the western conti¬ 
nent, extended, uninterruptedly, through the whole of North and 
South America, being simply greatly depressed on the Isthmus of 
Panama. But it is now certain that no such continuity exists. 
The Cordilleras of the Andes terminate at Darien, and the great 
North American range probably commences near the Isthmus of 
Tehuantepec.* 

The two continents, as they formerly existed, are now con¬ 
nected (according to Mr. Hopkins, and confirmed by my per¬ 
sonal observations,) by a series of uplifted hills of variable height, 
forming a not well defined, sinuous and contorted ridge, dividing 
the waters of the Pacific from the Atlantic, curving through the 
Isthmus of Panama in the form of an arc, “ the convex surface 
of which faces the north ; the easterly portion runs in a south¬ 
easterly direction towards Darien, and the southwestly prolonga¬ 
tion extends to the shores of the Pacific, from whence it takes a 
westerly turn towards Veragua.” Upon the slopes of this ridge, 
and often towering above it, are seen isolated conical hills, some¬ 
times connected with each other, or with the dividing range, by 


* In 1823 the Prussian geographer Berghaus, contested the opinion of the continuity of the Cordilleras 
across the American Isthmus, a fact of which I was ignorant when the above was written. 





7 


low ridges of land. Nearly the whole of this formation is obvi¬ 
ously recent, and of igneous origin. It consists of porphyry, 
greenstone, columnar basalt, hornblendic and trapean rocks; al¬ 
tered limestone and granites, changed from other rocks by the 
action of fire, also occur. A considerable variety of minerals 
are found, such as ores of copper and iron, agates, chalcedonies, 
and carnelians ; and gold has been discovered in almost every 
stream, especially on the Atlantic slope; and indeed it is not im¬ 
probable, from the many favorable indications of its existence, 
that the mines of this precious metal may prove, on further ex¬ 
amination of the country, to be of great value. Very rich speci¬ 
mens of native silver have been brought to me from the vicinity 
of Gorgona. 

Where sedimentary rocks are found, it is obvious that they are 
of still more recent origin than the igneous formations, and have 
been deposited since the upheaving of the latter, as they abut 
upon them, without disturbance of their strata, which are per¬ 
fectly horizontal. Mr. Garella mentions some exceptions to this 
rule, but they escaped my observation. 

It is almost impossible to resist the conclusion, forced on the 
mind, that at no remote period the two Americas were com¬ 
pletely separate,* the ocean flowing (as it now does through the 
Strait of Magellan) freely and uninterruptedly between the con¬ 
tinents, and occupying nearly all the space included between Te¬ 
huantepec and Darien, constituting in fact but one isthmus, 
although known by different designations. On the highest peaks, 
which have been simply elevated by interior force, marine shells 
of recent origin are frequently found. 

As early as the year 1528 the attention of the Spanish Govern¬ 
ment was directed to the construction of canals over the follow¬ 
ing routes, viz : 

1st. By the way of Lake Nicaragua. 

2d. From the Rio Chagre to the Bay of Panama. 

3d. From Nombre de Dios to Panama. 

4th. Across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. 

And in 1800, from the Rio Grande near Panama, to the Rio 
Chagre, and from the Rio Caimeto, which flows into the Bay of 
Vaca del Monte, to the Rio Trinidad, an affluent of the Rio 
Chagre. 

Many of the lines across the isthmus which have been sugges¬ 
ted by Humboldt and others are now known to be utterly im¬ 
practicable for canals, and as offering no inducements for the 
construction of other than common roads, possessing merely a 
local interest; and I have therefore not thought it worth while 
even to take them into consideration. 

The following list enumerates all of the projected routes across 
the American Isthmus, which, according to our present informa- 


* Mr. Garella expresses the same idea, and thinks that the mountains in which the rivers Chagre and 
Trinidad have their sources were formerly the extremities of the two continents of America, or were perhaps 
(which is more probable) large islands in a vast strait. 



8 


tion, promise any moderate degree of feasibility for the construc¬ 
tion of either railroads or canals. 

ls£. Tehuantepec ; 2d. Nicaragua ; 3 d. Veragua; 4:th. Panama; 

5th. The Atrato at Darien. It may not be inappropriate to remark 
in this connexion that a plausible route for a canal has 
been suggested ill the province of Choco, where, according to Al- * 
cedo, the small ravine of Raspadura unites the neighboring sour¬ 
ces of the Rio Noanama and the Rio Quito. This stream, with 
the Andageda and the Zitera, form the Atrato, flowing into the 
Atlantic, while the Noanama discharges into the South sea at the 
Bay of Choco. In the year 1788 the priest of the village of 
Novita employed his flock to dig a small canal in the ravine of 
Raspadura, by which in the rainy season, canoes pass from ocean 
to ocean, 225 miles distant from each other. This fact has induced 
many persons too hastily to arrive at the conclusion that this line 
is highly favorable for the construction of a ship canal, and yet 
nothing may prove more delusive. What is the height of the 
province above the tides ? What would be the length of the 
summit level, and can an abundant supply of water be brought 
into it ? What would be the probable cost of a ship-canal there 
225 miles long ? To these questions no answers can be given. 

The short portages or embarcaderos* as they are called, which 
are found in so many passes of the dividing ridge on the isth¬ 
mus, are well calculated to lead persons, not professional engi¬ 
neers, to very erroneous conclusions. As, for instance, in the 
rainy season canoes may be taken from the Atlantic up the Rio 
Chagre, and its tributary the Obispo, to Panama by the Rio 
Grande, with a portage of only five miles , and I have seen an iron- 
boat of 800 pounds weight carried in the dry season from Gor- 
gona, on the Chagre, to the Rio Grande, and yet nothing could 
be more fallacious than the idea that this is a practicable much 
less a favorable , route for a ship canal. The truth is, that all the 
streams on the isthmus fall with great rapidity near their sources, 
and becomes very sluggish near their mouths, and in the dry sea¬ 
son discharge scarcely any water until they reach the low levels 
where they are mainly supplied by percolation. These remarks 
are of general application, and I have selected the Raspadura as 
an illustration for the purposq of correcting any wrong opinions 
which may have been formed from the statement of similar facts. 

I shall now proceed to the consideration of the different routes, 
before mentioned, in the order they have been enumerated, and 
shall endeavor to extract from the mass of vague, intangible, 
and often contradictory information, (the accumulation of cen¬ 
turies,) enough to form an opinion of their probable adapta¬ 
tion to the ends proposed, and, avoiding all mere speculations, to 
enable me to treat them, as far as our data will permit, as strict 
professional questions. 


* The word embarcadera literally means a landing or embarking place, but is usually applied to a portage, 
which may be supposed to include the other. 



9 


1ST.-ISTHMUS OF TEHUANTEPEC. 

So much has been recently published on this route, either from 
the direct observation of the writers or from the labors of others, 
that I feel there is but little for me to do without trenching upon 
the ground already occupied by persons more competent than my¬ 
self to do it justice, except to present a resumi of the facts which 
have been collected, and a statement of the conclusions which I 
think may be fairly deduced from them. Those who may desire 
to look further into the subject are referred to the writings of 
Humboldt, Cramer, General Orbegozo, Moro, Col. Abert, and 
Lieut. Maury. The whole question was treated with great ability 
in No. 108 of the Union of 1847, in which a very fair and careful 
analysis of Moro’s survey was presented. This survey, or rather 
reconnoissance, is the only one of the isthmus that has any pre¬ 
tension to a scientific character, and that is defective or rather 
deficient in many essentials. Col. Abert, Chief Topographical 
Engineer, in speaking of it, in 1847, remarks: 

“ The survey of the route, under Garay’s grant, was made in 
1842-43, under the direction of the Engineer Moro, assisted by 
several others named in the report of his operations, which report 
was printed in London first, we think, in 1844; but the edition 
which is the basis of our present remarks is of 1846. It was 
certainly a survey, but rather of that character which may be 
classed as an instrumental or scientific reconnoisance, adapted to 
determine the bare practicability of the question at issue, but 
without that exactness which justify plan or estimate, the tracing 
of the route, or a reliable statement of its probable cost. The 
eye and judgment of the engineer, with a few points determined 
by the barometer, have been considered sufficient to indicate the 
line of feeder to the summit level, from which the practicability 
of distributing the water in the two directions could readily be 
decided. We admit that these data are sufficient to justify an 
opinion that a canal is practicable; but they are not sufficient, 
in our judgment, to determine what kind of canal, that is, of what 
dimensions, can be made, or its probable cost. We, therefore, 
think the plan of canal and the estimate of the engineer Moro 
rather premature, and we doubt if he will be able to sustain either 
of his views on these points, even by the facts of his own report.” 

Very little reliance for any thing but approximate results can 
be placed on the barometer, unless the most favorable conditions 
unite for the observations. Of this Mr. Moro seems to be perfectly 
conscious, for he remarks: 

“The north wind, which frequently blows over the isthmus, 
brings with it the clouds formed in the Mexican gulf, and these 
are discharged upon the low grounds of the Coatzacoalcos, to¬ 
wards the northern side of the Sierra and its principal summits, 
whilst above the opposite slope and over the plain, which extends 
from the foot of the mountains to the shores of the Pacific, the 


10 


sky remains constantly clear. Jf, under these circumstances, ba¬ 
rometrical observations are made simultaneously on both sides of 
the Sierra, on the side of the gulf they will exhibit a lower ele¬ 
vation than the true one, the error being the greater as that sta¬ 
tion may happen to be lower down or more towards the north ; 
but, if time should admit of waiting until the weather be equally ^ 
fine on both sides, {which seldom happens ,) then the difference be¬ 
tween the levels of the barometrical columns is insensible. Hence 
we are unable to give the altitudes of many places where observa¬ 
tions were made.” 

Certain it is that the barometer is a very unsafe guide in so 
delicate an operation as that of tracing a feeder-line , on which 
the practicability of a canal must depend; or the digesting of a 
projet for a railroad, as it does not determine the elements neces¬ 
sary to arrange the curvatures and gradients, or to calculate, even 
approximately, the cost of construction. For these purposes, cor¬ 
rected profiles, made from the results of continued spirit level ob¬ 
servation may be regarded as absolutely essential. And all sur¬ 
veys for canals or railroads, not conducted with the spirit level, 
must be considered as imperfect, as they certainly are unsatisfac¬ 
tory. There is no other means that I am aware of, by which we 
can attain the required detailed information. It is in no unkind 
spirit of criticism, or of fault-finding with the engineer who su¬ 
perintended the surveys, that I make these remarks; but from a 
sense of duty to point out what I think to be defective in the sur¬ 
vey. The map is, no doubt valuable, and will be found useful in 
future surveys, and many important facts have been ascertained ; 
but it is the want of minute information to which I think it ob¬ 
jectionable. In consequence of this it is almost impossible to 
form an opinion of the scheme beyond its general practicability. 

The route proposed by Mr. Moro is from the Gulf of Mexico to 
the Pacific. The Gulf of Mexico port is the river Coatzacoalcos, 
the Pacific port the bay of Tehuantepec. We have no reliable 
information that the river bar on the gulf side will admit gene¬ 
rally of more than twelve feet water, but at times fourteen feet 
of water may be carried over it. After passing the bar there is 
good water up to the foot of Tacamichapa island, and the river, 
after passing the bar, affords the most secure harbor. The length 
of the river to the foot of the island just named is about twenty- 
five miles ; eight feet of water can be carried to the foot of this 
island, and ten feet to the mouth of the Coachapa, about seven 
miles below the island. From the foot of this island the mouth 
of the Malatengo is about ninety miles, by the course of the river. 
From this point, namely, the Malatengo, where it is generally ad¬ 
mitted that the use of the river must cease, and a canal to pass 
the summit be commenced, the river has many shoal places, not 
exceeding eighteen inches, which admits of as good a navigation 
as that of the Ohio at low water. It would probably be better to 
canal the whole of this distance, using the river merely as a feeder. 


11 


The depth of the water over the bar, and the depth which can 
be carried up to the island Tacamichapa, or to the river Coachapa, 
plainly indicate the only kind of canal which should be made, 
namely, a boat canal, six feet deep, as there must be a tranship¬ 
ment of freight from sea-going vessels at the entrance of the ca¬ 
nal. A canal would probably cut off many bends of the river, 
and be shorter than the river route. It would also have to be 
raised above the immediate valley of the river, in order to avoid its 
freshets, which are frequently as high as thirty-five feet. From 
the mouth of the Malatengo to the point indicated for the summit 
pass of the canal would probably involve a trace of not less than 
twenty-five miles, and from thence to the lagoons of the Pacific 
would probably involve a trace of about thirty miles. On these 
lagoons the transhipment from the Pacific would have to be made. 
They are large and deep masses of water, and would involve a 
navigation of about fifteen miles, to the Boca Barra, by which 
the communication is accomplished with Tehuantepec Bay of the 
Pacific’. This Boca Barra has a shoal on its inner side of about 
eight (English) feet, and the passage to the Bay of the Pacific is very 
narrowfteubject to violent currents in and out; and the Bay of 
Tehuantepec is an open roadstead, without shelter, and is repre¬ 
sented as shoal for a considerable distance from the shore; it is 
also subject to extremely violent winds. The Boca Barra can 
hardly be considered accessible to sailing vessels, occasions would 
be so rare in which vessels of that kind could pass through it. 
It is no doubt more manageable for steam. The supply of water 
at the summit is very doubtful; and the most favorable view of 
facts which have come within my knowledge is that there might 
be water enough for a common (six feet) boat canal. Expensive 
reservoirs in the mountain gorges would ensure a supply of water 
for such a canal. 

A railroad is, without doubt, practicable, and would be much 
less costly than a canal. There is no reason to believe that any 
extraordinary physical difficulties will have to be encountered in 
the construction of a railroad on this route; but we have no in¬ 
formation to show what difficulties or facilities may be presented 
by the natural features of the country, or with what gradients the 
elevation of the summit may be overcome. It has been supposed 
that the railroad, if constructed, will probably pass through Chi - 
vela , as affording more space for the developement of the line, 
thus surmounting the dividing ridge with lower grades. Mr. Moro 
says that, Tarifa is less elevated than Chivela, but does not state the 
difference. We have absolutely no information from which to form 
an opinion of the magnitude of the bridges on this route, although 
building materials of wood and stone are undoubtedly abundant, 
and it is believed that subsistence for a large laboring force may 
be procured on the isthmus, or from the adjoining provinces. It 
is also supposed that a considerable laboring force may be ob¬ 
tained from the native population ; but the mechanics will have 
to be imported either from Europe or from the United States. 


12 


Mr. Moro states the elevation of Chivela at 682 feet. General 
Orbegoso makes the same point 782 feet high, a difference of 
100 feet. The lowest summit will probably be found at or near 
the Portillo or gap of Tarifa. 

The summit pass is said to be 660 feet above tide, or general 
ocean level. Ffom this elevation the line would have to be ex-» 
tended on one side about one hundred and fifteen miles, and on the 
other about thirty, to reach the navigable waters at each end, 
which would make the railroad trace 145 miles. 

The whole distance from ocean to ocean by this route would 
then be about 185 miles, comprehending railroad, river naviga¬ 
tion, and lagoon navigation. 

In 1842 the Mexican Government granted the right of way for 
a canal or railroad across this isthmus to Don Jose de Garay; 
but, not having complied with the conditions of the charter, it is 
alleged to be forfeited, which the grantee substantially denies, for, 
having failed to dispose of it in England, it has been lately offered 
to American capitalists. I have recently seen it stated in Mexi¬ 
can newspapers that the British house of Manning, McIntosh & 
Co. lay claim to the same rights, but whether by direct grant from 
the Government, or by transfer from Mr. Garay, I have not been 
informed. The Mexican Government seemed anxious to repos¬ 
sess the right of way. 

Mr. Moro’s surveys were conducted on the combined use of the 
barometer, astronomic instruments, and the theodolite; and it is 
to be regretted that his triangulations, limited mainly to the Pa¬ 
cific slope, had not been carried over to the Atlantic. He appears, 
however, to have experienced great difficulty in his operations 
from the winds and long continued wet and misty weather, al¬ 
though the periodic rain had not fairly set in. He says : 

“ From the frequency and force of the northerly winds, it be¬ 
came impossible to use the artificial horizon, and consequently the 
reflecting instrument. Even Borda’s circle was employed with 
much difficulty, on account of the continued heavy rain which 
fell on the mountain at the season of the year when the survey 
took place. Three successive attempts were made to determine 
the latitude of Santa Maria Chimalapa. The two first proved 
quite unsuccessful, having in one instance waited eight days to 
effect our purpose ; and even on the third occasion five days 
elapsed before we could accomplish our object. At many other 
places we also waited in vain for favorable weather to make our 
observations.” 

He also says: 

“Every attempt to determine the longitude of that place (San 
Mateo, on the Pacific) proved vain, and I could only ascertain its 
latitude.” 

In reference to the climate, he states that he has frequently seen 
the mercury in the thermometer at Tehauntepec stand at 92° Fah¬ 
renheit at 7 o’clock in the morning. 


13 


The mouth of the river Huasacoalcos, or Coatzacoalcos, is situ¬ 
ated in 17° 8' 30" north latitude, and 94° 17' longitude west from 
Greenwich. The position of the Boca Barra, and of the debouch 
of the Tehuantepec river on the Atlantic, were not determined, for 
reasons already given. The latitude of San Mateo, a small vil¬ 
lage on the coast, between the mouth of Tehuantepec and Boca 
Barra was ascertained to be 16° 12' 47" N. No observations were 
taken here for longitude, owing to the unpropitious state of the 
weather, and no attempt seems to have been made to deduce it 
from the triangulations connected with points previously estab¬ 
lished. The Commission appears to have labored under many 
disadvantages in the prosecution of the survey. The weather is 
frequently so unfavorable as to prevent the determination of cer¬ 
tain important positions, and then at a critical moment the rud¬ 
der of the sounding boat is broken, in consequence of which an 
error of seven feet, in sounding the bar of the river, creeps into 
the report. 

The facts before stated in reference to the manner in which the 
examinations of the isthmus have been made, taken in connexion 
with the remarkable discrepancies between Orbegozo’s* survey 
and Moro’s, (both seeming to be equally entitled to credit,) and the 
admitted error of the latter in taking the soundings at the mouth 
of the Huasacoalcos, has a strong tendency to create a feeling of 
distrust of the results which he has published. His trigonometri¬ 
cal and astronomical observations, however, are exempt from 
that suspicion, and are no doubt valuable contributions to geo¬ 
graphical knowlege, and his geological collection, arranged by 
the celebrated Del Rio, possess a high interest. 

One most serious objection to any communication across this 
isthmus for great commercial purposes is to be found in the want 
of safe and capacious harbors at either terminus. At the mouth 
of the Huasacoalcos there is but twelve and a half feet water at 
low tide, and it is exposed to the full force of the northers which 
prevail from November till April. I have seen thirty ships strand¬ 
ed in a single norther in the month of March. It may be said 
that the bar may be removed and an artificial harbor constructed 
at the mouth of the river. There is probably no more difficult pro¬ 
blem in the science of engineering than the execution of such 
works under the best of circumstances; but I am far from assert¬ 
ing that skill and money may not accomplish them. The mouth 
of the Huasacoalcos is peculiarly ill adapted to such improve¬ 
ments, which would scarcely be inferior in magnitude to the har¬ 
bor of Cherbourg, and would assuredly require the munificence 
and resources of a Louis XIV. for their execution. The bar, cre¬ 
ated by the action of a certain natural law, would, if removed, be 
immediately re-formed by the same cause to which it owes its 
origin, unless that cause should be so modified as to direct else- 

* It i« proper to remark that Gen. Orbegozo thinks that some of his barometric results may not be pre 
cisely accurate, as he suspected that the mercury had imbibed atmospheric air; but that he endeavored after¬ 
wards ‘ to correct the inaccuracies by the subsequent observations made at Tehuantepec previous to and 
after the exclusion of the air from the tube by the ebullition of the quicksilver.” 



14 


where the deposition of earthy matter ; and in the present case the 
question would be further complicated by the silting up of the ar¬ 
tificial harbor, if one should be built. Supposing that such a 
harbor should be constructed, it would still be liable to the objec¬ 
tion of the difficulty and danger of access, especially for sail ves¬ 
sels, in the season of northers. «. 

From recent examination of the isthmus by Mr. Moro (the par¬ 
tial results of which were published in the National Intelligen¬ 
cer of the 7th January, 1850,) that gentleman has arrived at the 
conclusion that the bar at the mouth of the Huasacolcos river, 
was formed, not from deposits from the floods, but by a ledge of 
soft argillacious rock, which he thinks may be easily excavated to 
the required depth, thus removing one of the principal objections 
to it as a harbor. 

The whole shore of Tehuantepec is subject to the visitation o f 
terrific hurricanes, (which take their name from the isthmus,) 
sweeping with resistless fury along this inhospitable coast, where 
the tempest-tossed mariner seeks in vain for a harbor of refuge, 
even for the smallest class of sea-going vessels. For this there 
seems to be no remedy; the genius of man cannot control the 
storms, and nature is constantly interposing new physical difficul¬ 
ties in the way of navigation. Humboldt says, “ the sea is daily 
withdrawing from the coast of Tehuantepec; the anchorage is 
yearly becoming worse; and the sand brought down by the river 
Chimalapa augments both the height and extent of the bar.” 

He further says, in his political essay on the Kingdom of 
New Spain, “the coast of Nicaragua is almost inaccessible in 
the months of August, September, and October, on account of the 
terrible storms and rains ; in January and February on account 
of the furious northeast and east-northeast winds, called papaga - 
yos. This circumstanstance is extremely inconvenient for navi¬ 
gation. The port of Tehuantepec, on the Isthmus of Guasacol- 
co , is not more favored by nature. It gives its name to the hurri¬ 
canes which blow from the northwest, and which frighten vessels 
from landing at the small ports of Sabinas and Ventosa.” These 
storms are said to extend from two hundred to three hundred 
leagues to sea, but that they are frequently local and limited to a 
small space. The existence of these storms has been denied by 
persons who speak from personal observation. Humboldt was 
never on any portion of the great American Isthmus, and his in¬ 
formation in reference to Tehuantepec was derived from the ar¬ 
chives of the Vice-Royalty of Mexico. How far this authority 
was reliable I cannot pretend to say. 

The country bordering on the Huasacoalcos is said to be “ by 
no means unhealthy.”* The whole of the Tierra Caliente of 
Mexico has been considered to be so deadly from the ravages of 
the vomito, the worst type of yellow fever, that the inhabitants of 
the temperate regions will not venture into it for half the year, 
unless impelled by a stern necessity, and it must be regarded as a 


Gen. Orbegozo does not concur in this opinion. 



15 


miraculous interposition of Providence or of “ our Lady of Gua¬ 
dalupe” if the valley of Huasacoalcos be exempt from its visita¬ 
tion. It may well be that few deaths occur there, for there is 
scarcely any population. The old sergeant of the “ invicibles” 
boasted that he had “ commanded Fort Rivage, on the coast, for 
the whole war, and that it had never been takento which the 
one-legged corporal replied, “ because it had never been attack¬ 
ed.” It has been asserted that the vomito prieto was unknown in 
Mexico until after the conquest. If this be true, the Spaniards 
have entailed a greater curse on that beautiful and unfortu¬ 
nate country than has generally been supposed. 

The low grounds on the Pacific are, as a general rule, more 
healthy than those on the Atlantic. Mr. Moro relates a singular 
fact for etiological inquiry connected with the climatic influence 
of a portion of the isthmus. He says: 

“ However strange this may appear, it is nevertheless certain, 
and the Rancho de los Mudas , (settlement of the dumb,) establish¬ 
ed a few years since near the lower part of the island of Tecum- 
ichapa, owes its designation to the fact that the individuals are 
all dumb who inhabit the three or four houses which form the 
settlement.” 

Several different translations have been given of the word “ Te¬ 
huantepec.” According to one authority it means a “ hurricane 
another calls it the “ Mount of Livons,” and derives from it the 
title of the Marquis of “ Monteleone,” held by the direct descen¬ 
dant of Hernan Cortez. Mr. Moro reders it “ Tiger-Mountain.” 

2d.- NICARAGUA. 

The former Province, now independent State, of Nicaragua 
has long attracted the attention of the world for its fertile soil, 
salubrious climate, (with the exception of the coast of the Carib¬ 
bean sea,) its large lakes and rivers, and commodious harbors, 
and, above all, by the idea (fast gaining ground) that here , if any 
where , we must look for a practicable solution of the problem 
which has for its results the connection, by a ship canal, of the 
Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Nature appears to have lavished 
her blessings on this favored region with an unsparing hand, and 
all travellers speak with enthusiasm of its magnificent scenery, its 
agreeable temperature, and its rich and varied agricultural pro¬ 
ductions.* 

In examining the map of the old kingdom of Guatemala, since 
the revolution called Central America, one must be struck with 
its large interior lakes, discharging their surplus waters, on the 
one hand, into the Atlantic Ocean, and separated, on the other, by 
a narrow ridge, from the South Sea. On looking further we find, 
contiguous to those lakes, the harbors of Nicoya, San Juan del 
Sur, and particularly of Realejo, the most magnificent, with the 

* See Juarros, Alcedo, Galindo, Stephens, Thompson, Montgomery, and Page. 



16 


exception of Fonseca and Acapulco, on the whole Pacific coast, 
where a thousand ships may ride in safety. In viewing all these 
facts, the observer must be impressed with that evident design of 
Providence which, when properly interpreted, we recognise in all 
its works. Nature was never so untrue as to hold out so strong 
a promise, and then to interpose barriers to its realization that 
may not be overcome by the energy and genius of man. It is a 
law that we must labor to accomplish that which we desire, and 
assist nature in her operation, else we should not appreciate the 
blessings with which we are surrounded. 

The havens* of which we have already spoken, the great Lake 
of Nicaragua and its outlet, the river San Juan, lie exclusively 
within the territory of the State of Nicaragua. I am aware that 
a half naked savage, called in burlesque “George Frederick Au¬ 
gustus the First, King of the Mosquito Indians,” claims jurisdic¬ 
tion over the lower portion of the San Juan, including the harbor 
at its mouth, and that this absurd pretension is recognized and 
supported by a great European Power. If it were not for the se¬ 
rious consequences that may flow from this assumption of royal 
dignity and authority, and the deep humiliation and disgrace 
which it is calculated to inflict on a nation which we all desire to 
respect, the whole affair would be simply ludicrous, and the world 
would enjoy a hearty laugh at the travestie of his Majesty, George 
Frederick Augustus the First, as it now does at the amusing 
masquerades of “Fustian the Great,” Emperor of all Hayti! 
But I feel admonished that this is too dark a subject to be ap¬ 
proached with unbecoming levity. 

In the investigation of the projected canal through Nicaragua, 
(which has not now arrested my attention for the first time,) I have 
read every thing that I could find touching the history and geo¬ 
graphy of Guatemala, and have not been able to discover one 
single fact to lend even plausibility to the pretensions of the Mos¬ 
quito King, (who, probably, never dreamed of any till the sugges¬ 
tion was made by others,) but, on the contrary, every thing to con¬ 
demn it. It is not, however, my province to discuss this question, 
and I have adverted to it only so far as it concerns the matter 
under consideration. If the affair rested with his Mosquito ma¬ 
jesty alone, it could no doubt be satisfactorily arranged on the 
basis of a barrel of whiskey, a looking glass, a few strings of beads, 
and a cocked hat; a rusty sabre and a long pair of iron spurs 
(which would complete the royal costume) might be thrown into 
the bargain. 

Seriously, the idea cannot be entertained that civilized nations 
will quietly submit to the frustration of a grand enterprise by the 
absurdities of a savage chief, even if he be sustained by a great 
Power. This “ dog-in-the-manger” principle will not be tolerated 
in the middle of the nineteenth century. 

Much has been written at various times on the subject of a ship 
canal through Lake Nicaragua, but we seek in vain for informa- 


The harbor of Nicoya is in the State of Costa Rica. 



17 


tion to fully satisfy the professional engineer. The most absurd 
schemes have been suggested, and apparently irreconcilable dis¬ 
crepancies* exist between the few and partial surveys, pretending 
to scientific accuracy, which have been executed; and no two 
travellers agree as to the dimensions and character of the lakes, 
or of the length, depth, and capability of improvement of the river 
San Juan. In reference to the harbors of San Juan of the Atlan¬ 
tic, of Nicoya, San Juan del Sur, and Realejo, and of Fonsecaf in 
Honduras, there can be no question, as they have been carefully 
surveyed by the Spanish and British Governments. 

We are left, therefore, very much to grope our way in the dark, 
from which we can be relieved only by an extensive and minute 
survey executed for the special purpose of settling the question. 
There is, however, an occasional glimmering of light to be per¬ 
ceived, by the aid of which we may be able to arrive at a proba¬ 
ble conclusion. 

Nothing can be more unsafe than the opinions of travellers, un¬ 
accustomed to the use of instruments, in reference to heights and 
distances; and all engineers, who have been employed on exten¬ 
sive surveys, know how to estimate them at their true value. The 
popular notion of “ a dead level” is often equivalent to a rise of 
more than one hundred feet in the mile, and a “gentle ascent” to 
some three or four degrees. Even a practiced engineer will dis¬ 
trust the evidences of his own sight unaccompanied by instrumen¬ 
tal observations. The state of the atmosphere exerts a wonderful 
influence on apparent heights and distances, and the best judg¬ 
ment may be entirely at fault. This I noticed to be particularly 
the case in the elevated plains of Mexico. We would there often 
see an object—a house, a rock, or point of a mountain—to all ap¬ 
pearance but a few miles off, and yet a ride of ten miles would 
seem to bring you no nearer to it t han when it was first discovered. 
Mr. Guizot was induced, by the representations of the commercial 
house of Salomon, based on information, as they asserted, derived 
from an engineer, that a thorough cut of forty feet would unite 
the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, through the Isthmus of Panama, 
to dispatch a scientific engineer to verify that astounding intelli¬ 
gence. So far from this being true, the lowest summit found by 
Mr. Garella turned out to be 390 feet above high tide, and that 
was not suitable for his purpose. This serves to show how little 
reliance can be placed on popular statements , even when backed 
by the alleged authority of an engineer. 

Before proceeding to the consideration of the several proposed 
lines, it may be well to establish certain principles which must 
govern, and which are applicable to them all. 

The canal must be of such dimensions as to accommodate the 
largest class of ships engaged in the Pacific and Indian trade. It 
must be provided with adequate harbors at its terminii. There must 
be no unnecessary detention in the transit. The summit level 


* It will be seen that we have endeavored to explain these differences. 

f The Gulf of Fonseca washes the conterminous boundaries of San Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua. 

2 



18 


must, not be higher than Lake Nicaragua, or, at the furthest, Lake 
Leon ; for from those great natural reservoirs we must derive the 
supply of water. It can be procured from no other sources. It 
will probably require one or two harbors on the lake to protect it 
from the storms. It ought to be constructed on the cheapest and 
shortest practicable route. r 

A canal of the size of the “ Caledonia” might answer a good 
purpose, but I doubt if it would be large enough. It is 20 feet 
deep, 50 feet wide at bottom, and 122 at the top. The locks are 
20 feet deep, 172 feet long, and 40 feet wide. I should prefer a 
canal of dimensions approaching to but rather exceeding those of 
the grand ship canal of Holland,* (which I examined with much 
care in the year 1841, and described in a report printed by order 
of the Senate.) It commences opposite to Amsterdam and ter¬ 
minates at Nieudiep, near the Helder, and was constructed for the 
purpose of avoiding the difficult navigation of the Zuyder Zee, in 
which it has been completely successful. Its breadth at the sur¬ 
face of the water is 124j feet, the breadth at the bottom 36 feet, 
and the depth 20 feet 9 inches. These dimensions are well adapted 
to steam navigation, a consideration which ought not to be disre¬ 
garded. It might be well to increase the width at water line to 
126 feet, the bottom width to 40 feet, and the depth to 21 feet. 
As the bottom cutting will probably be through rock, the slopes 
may be somewhat less than ordinary; the locks should be 47 feet 
wide and 210 feet long between the gates. 

Three routes have been proposed by which to connect Lake 
Nicaragua with the Pacific: 1st, from the foot of the lake to the 
Bay of Nicoya ; 2d, from the town of Nicaragua to San Juan del 
Sur, on the Gulf of Papagayo ; 3rd, from the upper end of Lake 
Leon to the port of Realejo. All these plans contemplate either 
a canal along the Rio San Juan from the Lake to the Atlantic, 
the improvement of its natural bed, or a combination of both. 

We are indebted to our distinguished American traveller, Mr. 
Stephens, for much valuable information concerning the country 
surrounding Lakes Leon and Nicaragua, derived from his per¬ 
sonal explorations, and from the surveys executed by Lieutenant 
Bailey, (a retired British navy officer,) under the orders of the 
Government of Central America. Mr. Stephens is not only a 
close and acute observer, but he possesses also the happy faculty 
of imparting knowledge in the most agreeable form. Mr. Bai¬ 
ley thus describes Lake Nicaragua : 

“ The Lake of Grenada is ninety geographical miles long, its 
greatest breadth is forty, and the mean twenty miles; the depth 
of water is variable, being in some places close to the shore, and 
in others half a mile from it, two fathoms, increasing gradually 
to eight, ten, twelve, and fifteen fathoms, the bottom usually 
mud. This basin is the receptacle of the waters from a tract of 
country six to ten leagues in breadth on one side of it, thrown in 

*The absolute cross section of the Caledonia canal is somewhat greater than that of the Grand Canal of 
’Holland, but its capacity (owing to the arrangement of the dimensions) is rather less. 



19 


by numerous streams and rivers, none of them navigable except 
the River Frio, having its source far away in the mountains of 
Costa Rica, which discharges into the lake a large quantity of 
water near the spot where the River San Juan flows out of it. 
The embochure is two hundred yards wide, and nearly two fa¬ 
thoms deep. There are several islands and groups of islets in 
different parts of the lake, but none of them embarass the navi¬ 
gation, nor is this any where incommoded by shoals or banks, 
other than the shallow water in shore ; and even this is but very 
trifling, or rather it is no impediment at all to the craft at present 
in use, the practice being to keep the shore close aboard, for the 
purpose of choosing convenient stopping places at the close of 
day. as they scarcely ever continue their voyage during the night. 

The largest islands on the Lake are Omotepe, Madera, and 
Zapetera. Taken together the first two of these islands are 
twelve miles long. Zapatora is almost triangular, and five miles 
long. Sanate, Salentinane, and Zapote are smaller, and unin¬ 
habited ; but some of them, and the last in particular, are capable 
of cultivation. 

“ Near the town of Grenada there is the best anchorage for 
ships of the largest dimensions. 

“ The Lake of Nicaragua,” says Mr. Bailey, * is connected with 
that of Leon by means of the River Pinaloya, or Tipitapa,) navi¬ 
gable for the boats employed in that country for twelve miles, as 
far as the place called Pasquiel, where the inhabitants go to cut 
and bring away Brazilian timber. The four miles which remain 
between that place and the Lake of Leon, are not navigable for 
any kind of boat, whatever may be its construction, because be¬ 
yond Pasquiel the channel is obstructed by a vein of rocks, which 
when the river is swollen are covered with water, but in the 
dry season the water sinks so low that it can only escape through 
gradually diminishing fissures in the rocks. At a distance of a 
mile beyond this first vein of rocks, we find another more solid,^ 
which, crossing the river at right angles, forms a cascade of 
thirteen feet descent. 

“ The river Tipitapa,* which discharges into the Lake of Ni¬ 
caragua, is the only outlet for the Lake Leon.” 

Lake Leon (or Managua, as it is often called,) is about thirty- 
five miles long, and sixteen miles at its greatest width. It is the 
receptacle of a large basin of drainage, but the streams flowing 
into it are small in size. According to some authorities it is more 
shallow than Nicaragua, while others describe it as being deeper. 
This is an important fact to be ascertained. Its banks are higher 
and more perpendicular than those of the latter, and its level 
might be raised if necessary by the erection of a dam at its outlet. 


* “ According to Mr. Stephens,” says M. Michael Chevalier, “the whole fall of the river Tipitapa, 
which amounts to twenty-eight feet, is 'comprised within the first six miles Iron) the Lake Leon Mr. Roo- 
haud, who has assisted in the topographical discoveries in that country, has told me that the tall of tvventy- 
eSht feet was distributed as follows, viz : Eighteen feet are precipitated by a cascade at lipitapa, and the 
remaining ten feet and a half descend from Tipitapa to Nicaragua. 




20 


Mr. Shepperd,* an American skipper, who resides at Blewfields, 
and has traded on the Lakes of Nicaragua and Leon, qualifies 
Mr. Bailey’s description of the former by saying that it has fif¬ 
teen fathoms of water in some places only , and that at its outlet it 
has only seven feet of water, the shoal extending a long way 
into the lake. This is another point requiring investigation. » 

As a proper understanding of the San Juan river is necessary 
to our subject, I do not know that I can do better than to tran¬ 
scribe Mr. Bailey’s account of it (although it has been often pub¬ 
lished) as our most reliable authority. But, before doing so, it 
may be well to remark that Captain Sheppard, already referred 
to, differs somewhat from Mr. Bailey’s conclusions. That gen¬ 
tleman, for the prosecution of his business, built a vessel of fifty- 
two tons burden for the navigation of Lake Nicaragua. At the 
end of a rainy season he commenced to ascend the river, and it 
required twenty-two days’ hard labor, (eighteen of which were 
occupied in warping,) to reach the lake. He says that there is 
a ledge of rocks across the channel, about half-way up the river, 
where, in the summer, it is necessary to unload the bongas, haul 
them over the ledge, and reload them before they can reach the 
lake. An attempt was made in the early part of the present 
year to ascend the river with a small steamer ; but the experi¬ 
ment, I believe, was unsuccessful. It is asserted, by other per¬ 
sons, that the ledge of rock to which Captain Shepperd alludes is 
a dam erected by the Spaniards “ in the olden time,” to prevent 
the ingress of the buccaniersf to the lake from the Atlantic. 

“ The river San Juan,” says Mr. Bailey, “ flows from the Lake 
of Nicaragua at its southeastern extremity, at the place where for¬ 
merly stood the Fort of St. Charles, now completely destroyed. 
Here is the only discharge for the waters of both the lakes. The 
whole length of the river, pursuing all its windings from St, 
Charles down to the port of San Juan del Norte, is ninety miles, 
(others say one hundred and four miles,) it forms a magnificent 
stream, somewhat irregular in its breadth, which varies from one 
hundred to two hundred yards, studded with small islands, form¬ 
ing for the most part a channel on each side of them. The depth 
of water varies from one and a half to seven, eight, and nine fa¬ 
thoms. In the midstream, the depth is generally from three to 
five fathoms ; but during the rainy season, namely, from May to 
November, the depth is considerably increased, for, according to 
observations made at the ruined fort near Grenada, in calm wea¬ 
ther, in October, 1838, when the rainy season had just termi¬ 
nated, and again in May, 1839, before the rains had commenced, 
when the lake was at the lowest, the difference of height be¬ 
tween these extremes, was found to be six feet six inches. In 


* See Liot on intermarine communication. 

f The pirates often attacker! the Spanish towns on Lakes Nicaragua and Leon. In April, 16P0, Capt. 
John Davis, an English buecanier, with eighty men, ascended the river and lake to the town of Nicaragua 
(in three days from the Atlantic) and sacked it of money, plate and jewels, worth 50,000 pieces of eight. 
The infamous Lalonois made a similar attempt afterwards, but was defeated with great slaughter, few of & his 
band of miscreants having escaped. 



21 


November, 1839, at which time the rains had ceased, the same 
observations were made, and the result was that the waters had 
risen fourteen inches less than in the previous year. 

“ The banks of the river, particularly the right, are fringed with 
wood of all sizes and descriptions, with a dense undergrowth, 
forming altogether a forest nearly impenetrable; consequently 
there are no inhabitants, nor is the land cultivated, although of 
prodigious fertility. The immediate shores are undulating, being 
in some parts not more than a few feet, and in others between 
twenty and thirty feet above the surface of the water. 

Two large rivers, the San Carlos and Sarapiqui, besides many 
small streams, discharge into the San Juan. 

“ From the gentle declivity, of the river San Juan the current 
is not strong, being at the rate of a mile or a mile and a half per 
hour, except in the time of freshets, when it is accelerated vari¬ 
ously, according to circumstances. It is navigated all the year 
round by boats of eight or ten tons burden, called bongos, and 
which are generally manned by ten or twelve men, besides the pa¬ 
tron. They can carry about one hundred ceroons of indigo, or five 
hundred hides, or a proportionate quantity of Brazilian timber. The 
obstacles which now prevent the advantageous navigation of the 
river San Juan, are first, the rapids ; second, the drainage occasion¬ 
ed by its efflux into another river, called the Colorado, seventeen 
miles above the port of San Juan; and lastly, the labarinths of 
small islands, which extend ten or twelve miles from the opening 
of the river Colorado to the mouth of the river San Juan. It is 
generally believed that at some former epoch the Spaniards pur¬ 
posely enlarged the opening of this branch, with the intent of ex¬ 
hausting the main river at that part to such an extent as to ren¬ 
der the river impracticable to navigation, hoping thereby to pro¬ 
tect the town of Grenada from external attacks. In the present 
stage of the science of civil engineering, this obstacle would be 
easily surmounted. The rapids are four in number, called Del 
Toro, Del Castillo Viejo, De las Bias, and de Machuca, all com¬ 
prised within an extent of ten miles, but there is a clear water¬ 
way from one to the other, having good depth of from three to 
six fathoms ; the longest of these rapids is not more than one mile. 
The rocks by which they are occasioned, are all placed trans¬ 
versely to the current, leaving a narrow channel on each side, 
and showing their ragged and sharpened edges above the surface 
of the water during the dry season. 

“ The breadth of the river from this point is between one hun¬ 
dred and one hundred and twenty yards ; the current rushes with 
violence, and dashes with great force against and between 
the projecting points. The bongos, however, make the passage 
without hazard, and we have never heard of the occurrence of an 
accident. 

“ The Colorado diverges from the San Juan in 10° 50' north 
latitude, and, after running in a southwesterly direction, falls into 
the sea in 10° 46', forming a dangerous bar. This river abstracts 


22 


from the main stream a considerable quantity of water, the open¬ 
ing from the San Juan being twelve hundred feet wide, and hav¬ 
ing in the deepest part nine feet of water at the lowest state of 
the river. From measurements of this section, carefully taken 
at two different periods, in May when at the minimum, »nd in 
July when much increased by freshets, it appears from calcula¬ 
tion that at the first period the loss of water from the river was 
2,817,885,840 cubic yards. The main current being thus suddenly 
weakened, the motion of the water becomes sluggish, and the na¬ 
tural effect is, that deposites of sand and mud are formed, which 
gradually augment where the movement of the water is feeble ; 
trunks of trees and other floating bodies grounding on these, 
small islets are formed by successive aggregations, which soon 
become covered with rank grass, reeds, and other herbaceous 
plants of rapid growth : a great number of these mounds have 
been thus raised, and the progress of formation is continually 
going on. The usual methods of clearing the beds of rivers could 
here be applied with facility and good effect, as the accumula¬ 
tions are nothing more than silt and sand, with occasional logs 
buried underneath. A dam across the Colorado branch, con¬ 
structed on such of the well known plans as might be judged the 
most efficient, would be indispensable. Then the re-forced body 
of water, aided, if necessary, by the resources of art, would, by 
the momentum of its increased velocity, soon clear a channel to- 
the depth that should be deemed requisite; other parts of the ri¬ 
ver, where such operations might be wanted, could be improved 
by nearly similar methods, as the bottom is every where com¬ 
posed of mud and sand, except about the rapids, where it is of 
rock or loose stones.” 

I think it may well be questioned whether the river is suited, 
owing to its great floods and large masses of floating timber, for 
a slack-water navigation for large ships, with the exception per¬ 
haps of that portion of it below its off-shoot, the Colorado, which 
might be closed. This, however, is of little consequence, as the 
valley affords a most favorable trace for a canal, which would 
be considerably shorter probably than the river itself, and cheap¬ 
er than a system of canalization. All this is very plain work. 
The difficulty of the undertaking lies elsewhere. Knowing the 
elevation of the lake, its abundant supply of water, and the amount 
of lockage to be overcome, it matters little how wide or deep the 
San Juan may be, in different places and at different times, or how 
many shoats, reefs, rapids, or ripples may be found in its bed, or 
how much water it may discharge in the dry season. The lower 
reaches of the canal may be fed either by means of dams erected 
across the river or from its affluents ; but the main supply, after 
all, must come from the lake, that inexhaustible natural reservoir. 
It is possible that the upper portion of the river, as far as the first 
rapids, might be used for ship navigation, and that the whole 
length of the independent canal need not exceed sixty miles. 


2 3 


It has been suggested that a route for a ship canal might be 
found by following the course of the Carlos river, a tributary to 
the San Juan, and thence across to the Rio Grande, which, head¬ 
ing far up towards the Lake of Nicaragua, discharges into the 
Gulf of Nicoya. Another route has been proposed bjr the river 
Serapiqui, a considerable affluent of the San Juan, and the river 
Aranguez, flowing into the above named gulf; but there is not 
much probability of finding a gorge in the ridge of partition suffi¬ 
ciently low to be supplied with water; and, if there were, there is 
a strong, if not insuperable objection to the harbor on that gulf. 
Mr. Stephens says “all the ports of Central America on the Pa¬ 
cific are unhealthy, but this was considered deadly.” CoJ. Don 
Juan Galindo* gives the following topographical description of 
this region of country, from which we may infer the impracticability 
of all the projected routes through the State of Costar-Rica,\ 
and, in fact, also through the neighboring province of Yeragua: 

“ The southwestern slope is easily accessible, gradually inclin¬ 
ing, nearly thoughout its whole extent, from the genial temper 
which favors vegetation and relieves man in his daily labors, to 
the insupporable heat and aridity which announces languor and 
sterility. On the northeastern side, on the contrary, the aspect is 
more rugged, and nature appears as if she wished to display her 
power by placing at every step difficulties, wonders, wrecks, and 
ruins. Every thing here is great—the number, complication, and 
height of the mountains ; the large rivers, and even the small 
ones, excite the fear and attract the attention of the traveller, 
who considers their capacious channels, which they fill in winter, 
carrying along with them immense rocks by their impetuous cur¬ 
rent, as also the largest trees, broken and scattered here and there, 
and borne away with masses of earth torn by the waters from 
their lofty shores; inaccessible heights, deep abysses, beautiful 
and delicious plains, every thing is found full of fertility and abun¬ 
dance, from the most elevated peak to the shores of the ocean.” 

After this quotation it is scarcely necessary to say that there is 
not much probability of finding a favorable line from the foot of 
of the lake through the high volcanic range of Miravoga to the 
Gulf of Nicoya. It would be time and money misspent to make 
the examination; for it is not likely that even a feasible railroad 
route would be discovered in this region. 

The next route in order is from the town of Nicaragua, on the 
Great Lake, to the port of San Juan del Sur. This is the short¬ 
est distance (so far as we are informed) between the waters of the 
Caribbean and South seas. From the waters of Las Lahas, dis¬ 
charging into the lake, to the source of the San Juan of the Pa¬ 
cific is only one league ;J but those streams fall rapidly from the 

*This scientific officer and accomplished gentleman was barbaionsly murdered in 1840 by Carrera’s party, 
after the battle of Taguzegalpa. Had his life been spared, we might have expected from him highly valuable 
papers on the geography and resources of Ceutral America, which he was preparing at the time of his mel¬ 
ancholy death. 

t This is Galindo’s orthography. 

i To this naked fact but little importance can be attached. 



24 


dividing ridge. Two surveys have been made across this strip of 
land ; the one by Lieut. Bailey, the other by Don Manuel Galis- 
teo, under the direction of the Captain-General of Guatemala, in 
the year 1781. The former makes the level of the lake 128 
feet 3.05 inches above the Pacific. The height of the <iividing 
ridge above the Pacific 615 T ££f feet, and consequently 478 T £££ 
above the lake. This latter height, with the addition of the depth 
of the canal, (21 feet,) gives the altitude to overcome, say in round 
numbers, 508 feet; the distance is 15| miles. Galisteo’s results 
are different in many respects, and by far more favorable. He 
makes the elevation of the lake 134 feet above the Pacific, and 
of the dividing ridge 289 feet above that plane, and of the divid¬ 
ing ridge above the lake 155 feet. To this add the depth of ca¬ 
nal, (21 feet,) and we have 176 feet of elevation to surmount. 

He makes the distance between the lake and the port of San 
Juan del Sur a little over 17 English miles. The results of these 
surveys differ in one respect most essentially. In the elevation of 
the lake the disagreement is only six feet, which may be account¬ 
ed for on the supposition that the tides in the Pacific were not at 
the same level when the two surveys were commenced, and that 
the lake was not at the same stage. This difference, at any rate, 
is not sufficient to discredit either. But Bailey reports the divid¬ 
ing ridge to be 487.600 feet above the lake, while Galisteo states 
it to be only 155 feet, showing a difference of 332 .600 feet. Mr. 
Galisteo makes the distance nearly two miles longer than Mr. 
Bailey. The fair inference, I think, is that they passed over two 
separate and distinct summits, and that it is not necessary to sup¬ 
pose that either was seriously, if at all, in error. It would be 
well, however, if these surveys were verified. Mr. Bailey pro¬ 
poses to lock up from the lake some 70 feet, and then to tunnel 
through the ridge, but we can find no evidence that this summit 
could be supplied with water. Lake Leon, which is only 28 feet 
8 inches higher than Lake Nicaragua, obviously would not an¬ 
swer the purpose. There is not even fall enough to bring its wa¬ 
ters to the debouch of the proposed canal on Lake Nicaragua. 
This project, then, so far as our information extends, is impractic¬ 
able. On the supposition that Galisteo’s survey is correct, the ob¬ 
jection in regard to water disappears, for we have the large lake for 
our reservoir, and that of course is ample. The sole physical diffi¬ 
culty then to be encountered is the dividing ridge of 155 feet ele¬ 
vation, (falling rapidly on both sides,) 21 feet, (the depth of the 
canal,) or a total of 176 feet. This is no doubt a formidabe ob¬ 
stacle, but is it sufficient to prevent the execution of this great 
and noble enterprise ? I should hope not. 

The Hon. Charles Fenton Mercer, in his report as chairman of 
the Committee on Roads and Canals to the House of Represen¬ 
tatives, (March 22, 1839,) after carefully reviewing Mr. Galisteo’s 
survey, remarks: 

“ All the difficulties, therefore, attending the construction of a 
continuous canal from the Lake to the Pacific occur in the eight 


25 


miles next to the lake; for about six miles of which the elevation 
of the earth exceeds the surface of the lake more than 60 feet, 
and for two miles of the six it averages about 135 feet, and for 
about one-third of a mile it reaches 150 feet, but never exceeds 
that height.” 

If this route should be adopted it would involve the necessity 
of an open thorough cut (for a long tunnel on a ship canal would 
be highly objectionable, and in the present case more expensive) 
at its greatest depth of 176 feet, with a lockage down to the Pa¬ 
cific of about 134 feet. In point of real difficulty this work would 
be less formidable than the celebrated Desague of Huehuetoca, 
which was dug for the purpose of preventing further inundations 
of the valley of Mexico, (and of the capital,) which had been 
frequently submerged, sometimes for years. This great drain is 
over twelve miles long. For more than two miles this cut va¬ 
ries from 98 to 131 feet, and for half a mile, through the hill of 
Nochistongo, it is from 147 to 196 feet deep, or twenty feet deeper 
than it would be necessary to cut on this line for a ship canal of 
the largest dimensions ever executed. The breadth of the Desa¬ 
gue is at bottom 13 feet, and at top (over the deepest cut) 360 
feet. 

From the want of information as to the nature of the forma¬ 
tion to be penetrated, it would be impossible to assign the dimen¬ 
sion of the cut and of the quantity of the excavation. Of course, 
under these circumstances, all estimates of cost must be conjec¬ 
tural ; but we hazard little in saying that it might be executed 
for a sum not exceeding $10,000,000 or $12,000,000. 

The next line proposed is by the way of the river Tipitapa 
(also called Panaloya and Managua) and Lake Leon, # and thence 
across the country to the Port of Realejo, on the Pacific. The 
best publication on this subject is a small volume written by 
Prince Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, (President of the French Re¬ 
public,) whilst a close prisoner in the fortress of Ham, and is 
highly creditable to his industry, ingenuity, and powers of inves¬ 
tigation and analysis. The most important portion of it has been 
re-printed with Mr. Rockwell’s recent report. Mr. Michel Chev¬ 
alier has also published an able and interesting memoir on the 
subject of intermarine communication between the oceans. 

The fall of the river Tipitapa (which is the outlet of Lake Leon) 
is 28 feet 8 inches, and its length is 17 miles. It is supposed that 
the first twelve miles from Lake Nicaragua might be rendered 
navigable for ships, leaving five miles of independent canal. The 
better plan would be to canal the whole distance. Whether 
Lake Leon is deep enough for ship navigation is a matter of un¬ 
certainty ; some persons asserting that it is deeper, and others 
more shallow than Lake Nicaragua. 

Dampier, who visited this region in the year 1680, on a milita¬ 
ry expedition, says, that “to arrive from Realejo to Leon, we must 


Frequently called Lake Managua. 



26 


go twenty miles across a country flat and covered with mangles.” 
He also says that, from the lower end of Lake Nicaragua to the 
port of La Caldera , on the Gulf of Nocoya, is about 30 miles, and 
that the intermediate country “is a little hilly , but for the greater 
part level and like a savanna.” This, however, does n#t agree 
with Colonel Galindo’s account, who was probably of the two the 
more accurate observer. The “ little hills ” I suspect will turn out 
to be high mountains. 

After ascending from the western extremity of Lake Leon a 
few miles, the ground falls very gently, according to Mr. Stephens, 
the whole distance to the Pacific. Mr. Richaud speaks of the 
country in the same terms. He estimates the height of the ridge 
of partition at 22 feet above the surface of the lake. “Then 
comes a small zone, on a very slight and yet sensible declivity, 
by which we gently descend to the Pacific ocean.” Other infor¬ 
mation places the highest ground at forty-nine and a half feet 
above Lake Leon. A Mr. A. G ### , who, according to Mr. Bona¬ 
parte, explored the country in 1842, and carefully investigated 
its formation, says: 

“ The western coast of the Lake of Leon is twenty-six feet 
above the Lake. From hence the land rises gradually for a dis¬ 
tance of 2,725 yards to an elevation of fifty-five feet six inches. 
Here is, then, the culminating point, whence the ground gently 
descends to the ocean.” 

We ought to infer from the precision of this information that it 
is the result of actual survey. 

This certainly shows a wonderful unanimity of opinion amongst 
those who have visited the country, and ought to dispel all doubts 
as to the entire practicability of this route for a ship canal. Nay, 
more; if this information be correct, it establishes the extreme 
feasibility of the work, when compared with the vast consequen¬ 
ces which may flow from its execution. 

Captain Sir Edward Belcher, R. N., explored a portion of this 
country in 1838, in his voyage round the world. He was inform¬ 
ed that the Estero Real , a river rising near Lake Leon, and flow¬ 
ing into the Bay of Fonseca, in San Salvador, was navigable for 
sixty miles above its mouth for vessels drawing ten feet water. 
He ascended the river for about thirty miles, and found it to 
agree with the description of the natives. He expresses the opin¬ 
ion that it is fed very near the Lake of Managua, and thinks that 
the ground between its head and the lake is low and narrow. 
Capt. Belcher says: 

“ It has been suggested to carry a railroad from Leon to the 
Lake of Managua, (Leon.) As to any canal into the Pacific, un¬ 
less behind Momotombo, Felica, and Viego range, into the Estero 
Real, I see little feasibility in the scheme .” 

If the maps which I have consulted be tolerably correct, there 
would be just as little feasibility in the route which he suggests. 
The Estero Real does not head nearer to the lake than thirty 


miles; and if we may judge of it by the maps, and of what is said 
of the rivers Realejo and Tosta, rising in the same ridge, its 
sources must be greatly elevated above the lake. If it be navi¬ 
gable for vessels drawing ten feet water for sixty miles, we may 
estimate its whole length at not less than eighty miles. If to that 
we add thirty miles to the lake, we have 110 miles of ship canal, 
with a high summit to overcome, and a probable deficiency ot 
water, for we must, in that event, abandon the lake as a reservoir. 

The harbor of Realejo has two entrances, both of which are 
described by Captain Belcher as safe in all weather. The least 
water on the one bar, according to the chart, is 24 feet, and on 
the other 30 feet. Inside the Island of Cardon, which acts as a 
natural breakwater, the depth varies from 6 to 7, 8 and 9 fathoms 
in the harbor. The extreme rise of tide is 11 feet. “ Docks or 
slips, therefore, may be easily constructed, and timber is readily 
to be procured of any dimensions; wood, water, and the immedi¬ 
ate necessaries and luxuries are plentiful and cheap.” 

By the Lake Leon and Realejo route the distances and lockage 
may be stated as follows: 

Canal, or canal and slack-water navigation— 

Distance. Lockage. 

In the San Juan - - - 100 miles. 134 ft. in. 


Lake Nicaragua 

- 100 “ 



River Tipitapa, 

17 “ 

28 “ 

8 

Lake Leon, 

- 35 “ 



To Realejo, 

- 29 “ 

162 “ 

8 

Total, 

- 281 

325 

4 


The height of lockage is stated on the supposition that the two 
oceans are on the same level at medium tide. I do not clearly 
understand whether or not Mr. Bonaparte contemplated a sum¬ 
mit level higher than Lake Leon. If the ridge of partition be no 
higher than has been estimated, to raise the summit level would 
be unnecessary and objectionable for many reasons. It will be 
seen by the above that the canal or combination of canal and 
slack-water navigation will be about 146 miles. Mr. Bonaparte 
thinks that there will be only 82 miles to be worked. I suppose 
he means of independent canal. 

By the Nicaragua and San Juan del Sur route, the distances 
and lockage will stand nearly as follows: 

Canal or canal and slack-water navigation— 

Distance. Lockage. 

On the San Juan - - ■ 100 miles. 194 feet. 

Lake Nicaragua - 60 “ 

To San Juan on the Pacific 17 “ 134 66 


Total - - - - 177 268 

Of this distance 117 miles would be canal, or a combination of 
canal and river navigation. This route is, then, shorter than the 






28 


other by 104 miles, and its summit level would be 28 feet 8 inch¬ 
es lower; but, on the other hand, the cut would be 100 feet 
deeper, and the harbor of San Juan del Sur is in every respect in¬ 
ferior to that of Realejo, and in the season of popagayos it is diffi¬ 
cult of access, although that objection may be obviated, ir^a great 
measure, by the use of steam. 

I think that we have reasonable grounds for belief that both these 
routes are practicable, with summit levels, in the one case not 
higher than Lake Nicaragua, and in the other than Lake Leon, at 
a cost not exceeding $20,000,000; but it is very difficult to esti¬ 
mate, even approximately,,the expense from our present data, 
which are quite insufficient for the purpose. 

You ask if a survey should not be made of these routes. I an¬ 
swer most assuredly, yes. But it ought to be extensive, careful, 
and minute. It ought to cover the whole basin of Lake Nicaragua 
(of course including Lake Leon and the San Juan river) and the 
country separating it from the Pacific. Every line which may 
possibly give a favorable result should be examined, and the ground 
should be bored in many places, and sufficiently deep to ascertain 
the character of the formation beyond a doubt. And precise loca¬ 
tions and working plans should be furnished for every probable 
route,* in order that fair comparisons may be instituted between 
them. There ought also to be made accurate charts of the lakes. 
The survey of the Isthmus of Panama, executed under my direc¬ 
tions, cost nearly $50,000, and yet every possible economy was 
observed. A considerable portion of this was expended on sala¬ 
ries of engineers, much of which, if it had been conducted by the 
Government exclusively with its own officers, might have been 
saved. A survey such as I have indicated above would cost about 
$75,000, but the sum of $50,000 might produce satisfactory prac¬ 
tical results. A less sum would answer no other purpose than to 
ascertain the mere practicability of the scheme. And yet what 
are these sums compared with the gigantic work the practica¬ 
bility and cost of which they may determine; “ a work,” says 
Southey, “ more important in its consequences than any which 
has yet been effected by human power.” 


[Since the above was written I have seen a map and profile 
transmitted from Nicaragua, purporting to be from actual survey, 
from which I deduce the following results: 

Length of River San Juan - - 90 miles. 

Part of Lake Nicaragua traversed by 

the line - - - 110 “ 

River Tipitapa - - - 18 “ 

Lake Managua - - - 55 “ 

Distance from thence to Realejo - 40 “ 


Total length 303 miles. 


* This would of course include the route from near the village of Tortugas, on Lake Nicaragua, to Salinas 
Bay, an excellent harbor. Culebra and Thomas’ Bay are also excellent harbors. 



29 


Elevations. 

Height of Lake Nicaragua above Atlantic 147 feet ) 

Same above Pacific - - 128 “ 6 in. ) 

Height of Lake Managua above Atlantic 176 “ 5 in. ) 

Same above Pacific - - 156 “ 11 in. \ 

Summit above Lake Managua 55 “ 1 in, I 

Summit above Atlantic - 231 “ > 

Summit above Pacific - 212 “ ) 

Showing a difference of 19 feet between the level of the two 
oceans. The elevation of Lake Nicaragua is probably estima¬ 
ted from its outlet.] 

3d.—FROM THE BAY, OR RATHER LAGOON OF CHIRIQUI, TO THE 
GULF OF DULCE. 

According to Galindo, these waters are separated by a high 
range called the Cabecaras Montanos, and we have no informa¬ 
tion that there is any considerable depression in them to recom¬ 
mend this route for favorable consideration. About 30 miles east 
is the Boca del Toro, on the Atlantic, said to be an excellent port. 
A canal route has been suggested from this place following up 
the Escuada River, (the boundary between Central America and 
New Grenada,) and thence to Chiriqui, (or Cherokee, as it is fre¬ 
quently called,) on the Pacific, where there is also a good harbor, 
which was surveyed by a British frigate the last winter. This 
route is represented by some persons as being favorable, but from 
the mountains indicated by Galindo, this is not probable. In 
truth, we have very little information in relation to it. It has 
been said that excellent coal is found on this line. Last winter I 
sent one of my party to examine the coal, and to bring me nume¬ 
rous specimens of it, which he did ; they turned out to be bitumi¬ 
nous clay, shale, and a very impure and extremely sulphurous lig¬ 
nite, unfit for any purpose. It is, I think, very improbable, judg¬ 
ing from what we know of 1 he geology of the isthmus, that a true 
coal will ever be discovered on it. It by no means follows that 
every collection of vegetable matter should, when covered by se¬ 
dimentary sand and clay, be converted into coal. It depends on 
the presence of other substances, and the change of wood into 
coal may be produced by a process somewhat similar to that of 
petrefaction, (as it is popularly called,) by which fossil trees are 
impregnated by silex, or carbonate lime; and the formation of 
coal may depend on the water, to which the wood is exposed, being 
charged with bituminous matter.* 

4th.-—ISTHMUS OF PANAMA. 

The Isthmus of Panama is now better known than almost any 
portion of Spanish America, or indeed, we might say, than of many 


*See report of Evan Hopkins, C. E., F. G. S., on the Geology of the Isthmus of Panama. 



30 


of the States of our Union. It has been completely covered with 
a net of triangles—the elevations of the dividing chain of hills, 
and of the most important isolated mountains, have been deter¬ 
mined by the barometer. Lines of levels have been run in dif¬ 
ferent directions between the oceans ; the topography of the isth¬ 
mus has been delineated, and the streams and rivers guaged ; the 
character of the geological formation, and much of its natural 
history in other departments, investigated ; and there is scarcely 
a ravine in a width of more than forty miles, measured along the 
crest of the central chain, that has not been explored. Here we 
cannot complain of want of information; and, as I personally 
conducted the recent surveys across the isthmus in reference to 
the construction of a railroad, I can speak of it with much con¬ 
fidence, and shall therefore treat the subject with more detail 
than I have bestowed on the consideration of the other routes. 

In the month of January last I accepted the appointment of 
chief engineer* of the Panama railroad from Messrs. Aspinwall, 
Chauncey, and Stephens, of the city of New York, who had se¬ 
cured the right of way, with liberal concessions, from the Govern¬ 
ment of New Grenada; and immediately organized a large corps 
of engineers, which was dispatched in the same month, with 
written instructions, to the scene of operations. 

The written instructions were based on such information as we 
were able to collect from the labors of others in the same field. 
I particularly refer to Major Lloyd, to Mr. Garella, and to the 
surveys executed under the immediate eye of Mr. Stephens, (one 
ot the association,) by Mr. Baldwin, and Mr. Tracy, American 
engineers, in the year 1848. The first survey was made under 
the auspices of President Bolivar, for the purpose of solving the 
problem of the level of the two oceans; the second under the 
orders of the French Government, to ascertain the practicability 
of a ship canal, and the last mainly in reference to the determina¬ 
tion of the height of the summit-ridge. I shall have occasion to 
refer hereafter more particularly to these different explorations. 

It may be proper here to remark that the British Pacific Steam- 
Packet Company had also caused examinations to be made of the 
isthmus by Mr. McGeachy, Crown Surveyor of the Island of Ja¬ 
maica, and by Mr. Evan Hopkins, a geologist and mining engi¬ 
neer; but their results were not known to us until the completion 
of our operations. 

Within the limits of our explorations, the principal streams 
flowing into the Pacific are the Rio Grande, debouching near 
Panama, and the Caimeto, discharging into the Bay of Chorre- 
ra, at Yaca del Monte, about twelve miles to the southwest of 
Panama. These rivers have numerous tributaries, all bearing 
the same characteristics, and form in fact two great basins 
of drainage, separated by high lateral ridges, for all practi¬ 
cal purposes impassable; so that, whichever valley is selected, 


* On the completion of the report (in July last) on thesnrvey and location of the road, 1 resigned the ap* 
pointment of chief engineer, and since that time have had no connection with the the company. 



31 


it is essential to confine the location to that valley. The water¬ 
courses fall rapidly near their sources, shedding the downfall wa¬ 
ter with great velocity to their lowest levels, where, of course, 
the streams rise in the rainy season suddenly to great heights. 
At a short distance from the dividing ridge they assume the ap¬ 
pearance of wide, deep valleys ; sometimes exhibiting vertical 
rock escarpments, and become, under ordinary circumstances, very 
sluggish in their currents. This is probably owing more to the 
geological formation of the country than to the erosive action of 
the waters. It will be at once perceived that, and I wish to have 
it borne in mind, for the better understanding of what is to fol¬ 
low, that this peculiarity renders it almost impossible, at least not 
advisable, to pursue what is technically called “ a valley loca¬ 
tion,” especially where we would have had to encounter so many 
tributaries near their mouths, at which places they are all inva¬ 
riably wide and deep. We were therefore compelled to keep 
above the main streams, and to cross the secondaries as near their 
sources as possible, and thus crossing the subordinate dividing 
ridges intervening between the tributaries. 

This was more particularly the case between the Rio Chagre 
and the Pacific, although, measurably, the same remarks apply to 
the Chagre valley itself. 

On the Atlantic slope, the Rio Chagre, a large and important 
river, opens far up towards the Pacific, and furnishes a short and 
easy means of transit to that ocean.* It rises in the Roqueran 
mountains, a high range, transversal to the main dividing ridge, 
and domineering above it to the east of Porto Bello. 

The Rio Chagre runs in a curvelinear sweep from its source to 
its mouth. For the first half of its length it flows in a south¬ 
westerly direction, nearly parallel to the dividing ridge, to the 
mouth of the Obispo, (one of its important affluents,) and then, 
suddenly changing its course to a few degrees west of north, fol¬ 
lows it to the ocean. It is a very crooked stream, frequently and 
abruptly changing its course. 

It is a large and noble river, about one hundred miles long, and 
from Cruces down varies from two hundred to three hundred feet 
in width. Its banks are high until within a few miles of the vil¬ 
lage of Chagre, and never overflows, except at a few points, in 
seasons of extraordinary floods. 

By the removal of the snags from the channel, and the improve¬ 
ment of some of the bars between Dos Hermanos and Gorgona, 
light draught steamers may ascend, at all times , to within a few 
miles of the latter town, and, for ten months in the year, may 
without difficulty reach that place. The sum of five thousand dol¬ 
lars would, in my opinion, be ample to effect that desirable object, f 

* It may be proper to remark, that the Chagre river, swelled as it is by large and numerous affluents, and 
drainin' 7 an extensive region, rises rapidly after the sudden and heavy tropical rains. It is often seen rolling 
down in waves from three to four feet. high. It frequently rises ten feet in an hour, and, when the rains 
cease, falls as rapidly. In the dry season it receives no more water from its tributaries than is exhausted by 

evaporatmn.^ geago ^ the porta g e f or light canoes by the Chagre and Rio Grande valleys is not more than 
five miles. A boat of nearly 800 lbs. weight was last summer carried from Gorgona to Panama, via the Pe- 
dro Miguel and Rio Grande. This is undoubtedly the shortest portage between the two oceans, except at 
Nicaragua. 



32 


Its most important tributaries are the Obispo, Quebrada, Agua 
Salud, Trinidad, and Gatun. The Obispo rises in the dividing 
ridge, and follows an easterly course, nearly parallel with it, until 
it is joined by the Mandingo, when, by a slight deflection, it falls 
into the Chagre river, between Cruces and Gorgona. The Que¬ 
brada and Trinidad, both large rivers, have their origin high up 
in the same range, towards Chorrei a, and flows in a northeasterly 
direction. The Gatun rises in the vicinity of Porto Bello, and 
flows in a northwesterly course, nearly parallel with the Atlantic 
coast. 

The Atlantic slope is (as an inspection of the maps will show) 
within our limits, divided into four basins of drainage, subordi¬ 
nate to the great basin of the river Chagre. This basin in con¬ 
fined on the west by a mountain range, in the neighborhood of 
Chorrera, called the Sierra de Chame, which is higher than the 
dividing ridge, and completely intersects it from ocean to ocean. 
A corresponding range limits it to the east of Porto Bello. 

The subordinate basins are separated by ridges, often higher 
than the dividing ridge. It will therefore be seen that we were 
necessarily confined to such valleys as we in the first place select¬ 
ed, it being impracticable to pass from the one to the other. These 
basins are formed by the drainage of the Cruces, Obispo, Quebra¬ 
da, and Trinidad rivers. 

The forces to which the formation is due appear to have acted, 
principally, in two different directions. The one uplifting the 
main connecting link of the two continents, and the other elevat¬ 
ing the transversal ridges, as we have already shown. From these 
axes other diverging or radiating ridges have been thrown out 
for short distances in the direction of the lines of least resistance. 
The valley of the Chagre can scarcely be regarded strictly as one 
of denudation. It is probable that when this country was upheav- 
ed, there was no well defined outlet between the summit and the 
Atlantic, but that the secondary ranges were connected with low 
narrow rides, in consequence of which a series of lakes were form¬ 
ed by the first rains, at different levels, falling successively to¬ 
wards the ocean. The accumulation of the w^Lter at last broke 
through these slight barriers, and, in the natural course of things, 
reduced the outlet to a nearly uniform plane, the highest of 
these lakes, at a distance of forty-four miles from the ocean, 
having been but fifty feet above it. The valley of the Chagre 
has evidently been formed, not by the deposition of earthly sub¬ 
stances from the river, but from the decomposition of the rocky 
hills, (subsequently mixed with vegetable matter,) and a long se¬ 
ries of abrasion from the downfall water. The river, which is 
extremely crooked in its course, winds around the terminations 
of the hills, from side to side, presenting in every respect a strik¬ 
ing contrast to the Mississippi, the Arkansas, Red river, and other 
southern rivers, which have formed their alluvial valleys, by de- 
posites from their muddy waters. This comparison will probably 
illustrate my meaning. With these brief remarks, which I con- 


33 


^sidered essential to a proper understanding of what is to follow, 
I shall now dismiss this portion of the subject. 

It was, of course, apparent from the commencement that our 
line of road must necessarily occupy some part of the Chagre val¬ 
ley; but which of the subordinate four basins, and which bank of 
the river we should select, was a matter for grave consideration : 
depending, in fact, mainly upon the most eligible line leading 
from the Pacific to the summit of the dividing ridge. 

As has been before stated, there are two basins of drainage on 
the Pacific slope, viz: the Rio Grande and the Caimeto. In mak¬ 
ing the selection we derived much advantage from Garella’s survey. 
That gentleman, in the year 1843, carefully triangulated nearly 
the entire belt of country to which our operations were confined; 
sketched in the topography, from his different points of triangu¬ 
lation, so as to form a pretty exact and connected ensemble map , 
exhibiting the contour of the country, the mountain ranges, de¬ 
tached hills, ravines, and course of streams, with considerable mi¬ 
nuteness. He also determined the height, at various positions, of 
the central chain and isolated cerros by means of the barometer, 
and carried a line of level and survey from the port of Yaca del 
Mont6 to the Atlantic, following the valley of the Caimeto for 
several miles, and then that of the the Bernardina (a large afflu¬ 
ent to the former) to the Ahogayaquan Pass, where he proposed a 
tunnel of nearly three and a half miles long; after which his 
line descends the Boneta and the Quebrada to the left bank of the 
Chagre river. This survey, of course, saved us much labor, as 
we should otherwise have been compelled to go overmuch of the 
same work. Still, it was neither sufficiently minute nor extensive 
to serve as a basis for a railroad project. And the summit level 
which we finally adopted seems to have entirely escaped his ob¬ 
servation, as he shows no pass less than a hundred feet higher than 
ours. Mr. Baldwin’s survey, in 1848, established the important 
fact that a pass of 337 feet above the Pacific existed, and we 
were induced to believe that a still lower one could be found. 

Upon a full consideration of the whole subject, it was deemed 
^expedient to select for our location the valley of the Rio Grande,, 
for the following brief reasons: The natural harbor of Panama 
is the best on that 'coast, and offers infinitely greater facilities for 
the construction of a commodious harbor than the bay of Yaca 
del Mont6, at the mouth of the Caimeto. It presented the shortest 
and most direct line, as traced on the map, to Limon Bay, which 
had been previously chosen as the Atlantic terminus. It promised 
the lowest depression in the central chain, and a crossing of the 
Chagre river, at its narrowest width, and with high banks, instead 
• of crossing it at Gratun, where its bed is wide and banks com¬ 
paratively low, avoiding altogether Quebrada and Trinidad rivers. 

Besides these advantages, we were induced to hope that, from 
the nature of the country, we should be able to make a better 
disposition of the gradients, than on the more western, or Chor- 
rera line. A section from the mouth of the Chagre to Yaca del 
3 


34 


Mont4 has been described as “ presenting a very gradual ascent, as 
far as the marshy land, near the Cordillera of Trinidad, then a rapid 
ascent of 450 feet, followed by a corresponding fall to the Pacific.’ 7 

A further examination of the country fully sustained J;hose ex¬ 
pectations, and also resulted in the discovery of a pass through 
the central chain of only 275 feet above the Pacific ; the lowest 
depression between the oceans , so far as has been ascertained by 
actual survey. 

A description of the minute topography of the country in the 
vicinity of our line of location would be foreign to the objects of 
this paper; and it will therefore be sufficient to say, briefly, that 
beginning at a point on that part of Limon bay called Manzanilla 
harbor, about six miles east of the town of Chagre, the line pur¬ 
sues a southerly direction, until it reaches, without serious impe¬ 
diments, the valley of the river Chagre, which it follows to 
within a mile of the town of Gorgona, (on the left bank of that 
river,) where it crosses the river at an elevation of more than 
forty feet above its bed, (with a bridge of 210 feet opening,) and 
then, still in the drainage of the valley, but leaving its banks, it 
crosses the country towards the summit of the dividing ridge, 
which it reaches in a distance of about ten miles : from thence 
it immediately descends to the drainage of the Rio Grande, and 
following the general direction of its valley terminates on the 
shores of the Pacific, in the vicinity of Panama, about ten miles 
from the central chain. All the serious obstacles to the construc¬ 
tion of a railroad occur within a limit of ten miles, in the vicin¬ 
ity of the summit, and they are less formidable than those which 
have been successfully overcome on many roads in the United 
States. The gradients are favorable. Between the Atlantic 
coast and Gorgona, they do not exceed twenty feet to the mile, 
and the dividing ridge may be surmounted by comparatively 
short grades of 45 feet to the mile, involving a summit cut of 
2,000 feet long, averaging 35 feet deep, mostly of hard rock. 
The Company has, however, as a temporary arrangement, and in 
reference to their present limited resources, adopted higher gra¬ 
dients in passing the summit than those proposed in my report. 
The necessity for the modification is greatly to be regretted, as 
the efficiency of the road, as a great commercial work will be, in 
consequence, much depreciated. As it regards the transportation 
of passengers, baggage, bullion, and light packages, it is not a 
matter of so much consequence. The excavation will generally 
be in red clay or trap-rock ; occasionally alluvial sand or rock 
less difficult than trap may be met with; but this will be the 
exception, not the rule. 

The entire length of the line of road, when the whole shall 
have been carefully revised, will not exceed but probably fall 
short of forty-six miles. The total amount in miles, surveyed to 
obtain that line, was three hundred and thirty-six and a half 
miles, exclusive of the reconnoissances made by myself and the 
chiefs of division, which were numerous and extensive. 


35 


The contracts for the execution of that portion of this great 
"work, lying between Gorgona, (the head of navigation on the 
Chagre river) and Panama, have been concluded with a company 
<>f gentlemen every way competent for its execution. They have 
just finished the construction of a large canal connecting two 
branches of the Magdalena river, in New Grenada, with native 
labor . This fact removes one of the great difficulties which was 
anticipated in the prosecution of public works within the tropics; 
and as the contractors, from their long familiarity with that 
country, and knowledge of its climate and resources, must be sup¬ 
posed to fully understand the nature of their undertaking, we 
have a right to infer that this important work is on the eve of 
its accomplishment; thus erecting another monument to Ameri¬ 
can skill and enterprise. It is but just to the New Grenadian 
Government to say that it has thus far acted in good faith to¬ 
wards the railroad company, and has exhibited a liberal and en¬ 
lightened policy in its concessions, which shows a high appre¬ 
ciation of the advantages to be derived from the opening of this 
new communication, not only by its own citizens, but by the ci¬ 
vilized world. In the extensive grant of land which they have 
secured to the company, they have also conceded the royalty of 
the mines, which may be covered by it, thus suspending for, I be¬ 
lieve, the first time in the history of Spanish America, the “ laws 
of the Indies” in reference to mining operations ; and as the indi¬ 
cations are strong of the existence of the precious metals, this 
may prove of great value to the company or to the colonists who 
may purchase these lands. 

As regards the termini of the road, the precise points have not 
yet, for obvious reasons, been selected, though it is known that 
Limon bay, on the Atlantic coast, and the bay of Panama, on the 
Pacific, present opportunities for such selection which will secure 
all that is desirable for those purposes. The former is six miles 
east of Chagre, surrounded by high land, and is represented as 
being as healthy as any place on the Atlantic side of the 
isthmus. It is very capacious, with deep water and good anchor¬ 
age, safe even now, and capable of adaptation to all busi¬ 
ness purposes by inexpensive works. No breakwater is ne¬ 
cessary to its safety as a harbor, and H is sufficiently commodious 
for all the purposes of commerce, for a century to come, without 
resorting to artificial constructions, except in the building of 
wharves to facilitate trade. Good and abundant water may be 
obtained in the vicinity of the bay, and I am not aware of the want 
of any points of excellence which recommend our best harbors. 

The harbor* formed by the island of Manzanilla, in Limon Bay, 
has been examined by Lieutenants David B. Porter and Cadwal- 
lader Ringgold, of the United States Navy, who have reported 
most decidedly in its favor; and Captain Tucker, of the steamer 
Orus, who was in the constant habit of frequenting it during the 

*For very accurate charts of Limon Bay (iucluding Manzanilla harbor) and of the Bay of Panama, we are 
indebted to the British Admiralty 



36 


last winter, pronounces it safe in the worst storms without artifi-' 
cial protection ; and this opinion is confirmed by an old Colombian 
navy officer, who has long been familiar with this coast. Some 
misapprehension has existed on this subject fit>m the fact that 
Mr. Garella recommended an expensive breakwater at the ter¬ 
minus of his projected canal. The apparent contradiction is, how¬ 
ever, easily reconciled. The canal, from the nature of the ground, 
must necessarily terminate on the open bay , exposed to the north¬ 
west, the direction of the prevailing winds, while the railroad ter¬ 
minates behind Manzanilla island and Point Coco Solo, stretching 
out from the mainland, which afford ample natural protection 
against the storms. 

On the Pacific the character of the Bay of Panama is well un¬ 
derstood. Partaking in an eminent degree of the nature of the 
ocean, so well named Pacific , storms rarely occur to ruffle its 
placid waters, and tempests are unknown. The beautiful islands 
in this lovely bay afford great facilities for commerce. Toboga 
particularly possesses an abundant supply of pure and delicious 
water, falling in cascades near the shore, from which the largest 
vessels may be watered in a few hours when the necessary fixtures 
are erected. It is true that the waters of the bay, near the shore 
of the main land, are not sufficiently deep to allow vessels to lay 
alongside, and until proper works are built the business must be 
done as heretofore by means of lighters ; but a minute examina¬ 
tion has been made of the harbor with reference to its improvement 
and connexion with the railroad, and the conclusion I have come 
to is that, by a judicious system of works, involving no contingency 
as to their practicability and success, a harbor may be made at the 
very terminus of the road of ample magnitude, depth, and safety, of¬ 
fering advantages not inferior to any on the whole Pacific coast.* 

When this improvement is effected vessels may be rapidly dis¬ 
charged at the immediate terminus of the road. It is true that to se¬ 
cure this object the outlay will be large, but the terms of the charter 
are so liberal, and thegreat amount of business so certain, as to put 
the question of profit on the investment beyond a contingency. 

On the question of health ,f I consider that the adverse accounts 
have been much exaggerated. Such of the inhabitants as live 
here in the manner of civilized beings enjoy as good health as the 
people of the North, and of the great number of emigrants who 
have passed over during the present season but few have suffered 
from local diseases. Now, considering the exposure to which they 
have been subjected, the loose habits of many of them, their long 
detention on the isthmus , and their constant excitement, it is a 
proof of salubrity that so few have suffered. At present such is 
the mode of life of the native, from Chagre to Panama, that there 
is scarcely a tenement fit to give protection to a weary or sick 

* All that can be said adverse to the harber of Panama is, that it is, tinder present circumstances, inconve¬ 
nient. But even now it is in every respect a better harbor than Valparaiso, San Francisco, and many others 

on the Pacific coast. 

jit must be borne in mind, however, that our personal observations were limited to the months of Februa¬ 
ry, March, Jipril, May, and the early part of June, which are amongst the healthiest months of the year. 
See Dr. Halsted’s report, appendix B. 



• 

traveller, and I believe that, with what we consider the ordinary 
means of protection against the consequences of exposure and good 
medical attendance, health may be preserved very thoroughly. A 
small expenditure, in the erection of houses or shanties, for the em¬ 
ployees and operatives (which should be provided with floors and 
divided into apartments) would secure health and produce eco¬ 
nomical results. 

The most exaggerated ideas have been entertained respecting 
the health of the isthmus, which, with the exception of the town 
of Chagre and Porto Bello, (owing to local causes,) is probably as 
salubrious as most countries of the same elevation within the 
tropics. Mr. Moro, the engineer of the Tehuantepec route, says 
it was so sickly that Major Lloyd and Capt. Falmarck could not 
complete their survey, and that Lloyd died soon afterwards in 
consequence of his exposures. The survey was finished, and Ma¬ 
jor Lloyd has since filled important official places in the East In¬ 
dies, and was certainly alive a few months ago. It has also been 
asserted that animals lose the power of propagation in consequence 
of the enervating effects of the climate. If these travellers would 
visit Chagre and Porto Bello they would see most conclusive evi¬ 
dence to the contrary, at least as far as the human species are 
concerned. I have known one man, a native of Porto Bello, to 
count more than thirty living children of whom he claimed the 
paternity, and the parish priest was supposed to exceed him in the 
number of his progeny. Humboldt, adopting the representations 
of others, says that it is unfavorable to the growth and multiplica¬ 
tion of cattle, and recommends the cultivation of exotic grasses. 
This is a great mistake. Wherever I found settlements, I was 
struck with the beauty and number of the cattle, and with the 
exception of the savannas on the Pacific, the pasturage of sweet 
and natural grasses,* even in the driest season, was most luxuriant 
and abundant. Our surveying party, exposed to all the vicissitudes 
of the climate, suffered but little, until near the close of the survey 
when a good deal of sickness appeared, owing to the fact of the 
men being several days exposed to the rains without being able 
to change their clothes, and we lost but one person out of eighty 
employees, whose melancholy death was occasioned by inflamma¬ 
tion of the bowels, induced by great imprudence in eating impro 
per and indigestible food. The vomito is here unknown. The 
prevailing diseases are of an intermittent character. 

According to Major Lloyd and Captain Barnett, the flag staff 
at the Castle of San Lorenzo, at the mouth of the Chagre is in 

Longitude 79° 59' 33" west (of Greenwich.) 

Latitude 9° 19' 39" north. 

Major Emory, of the Corps of Topographical Engineers, makes 
the longitude of Chagre, (not the castle,) by chronometers, 80° 01' 
21" west of Greenwich. 

Major Emory, after a long series of exact observations at Pana¬ 
ma, makes the northwest bastion of the fortifications as follows, viz: 


Particularly the grammaloti. 



38: 


Latitude 8° 57' 12" 15"' north. 

Longitude 79° 29' 24" 4"' west of Greenwich. 

Magnetic declination 6° 54' 37" east. 

Magnetic dip 32° 00' 00" ♦ 

Intensity 0.87507, (uncorrected for difference of temperature.) 

The intensity at Falmouth, England, having been taken as the 
unit. 

According to Captain Sir Edward Belcher, of H. M. ship Sul¬ 
phur, the northeast bastion at Panama is in 
Latitude 8° 56' 56" north. 

Longitude 79° 31' 12" west of Greenwich. 

Major Emory says : “ From March 22d to May 12th the maxi¬ 
mum temperature was S9° Fahrenheit, which occurred April 25th. 
The minimum during the same period was 69° 5" Fahrenheit, oc¬ 
curring March 27th and April 5th, 1849. The mean temperature 
during the same period was nearly 80° Fahrenheit.” Major Emory 
has kindly permitted me to use his results, and I refer, for a better 
understanding of them, to his letter of 10th of May last. 

The extreme rise of tide at Panama is twenty-two English feet, 
a fact very favorable for the construction of docks. At Limon 
Bay it rises twenty-four inches. I have not attempted to investi¬ 
gate the interesting philosophical question of the difference of levels* 
of the two oceans, because we had not the time to expend upon it, 
having been compelled to use our best efforts to accomplish the 
more practical matters which had been entrusted to us. Our 
levels from Gorgona* to the Atlantic have not been tested, and, 
although we have no reason whatever to distrust them, I do not 
feel myself at liberty to make them a basis of speculation to deter¬ 
mine so important a problem. For minute information on this sub¬ 
ject I refer to the published reports of Major Lloyd and Mr. Garella. 

I have not attempted, nor do I consider it necessary in this 
paper, to draw any comparison between the route across the 
Isthmus of Panama, and other projected lines intended to accom¬ 
plish the same object of an intermediate communication between 
the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It may not be out of place, how¬ 
ever, to remark that this line is the shortest by far from sea to 
sea; that it now has the shortest portage, with the exception of 
Nicaragua and theRaspadura ravine, and the lowest known pass 
over the continent between the arctic circle and the Strait of 
Magellan, and may be constructed for the least expense. In view 
of harbors it possesses a most deeided advantage, and in regard 
to health is inferior to none. Besides this, its geographical posi¬ 
tion, in reference to the trade of India, China, Australia, and the 
South Pacific coast, commend it especially to the attention of 
the commercial world. Even now, in spite of the vexations, de¬ 
tentions, and expense which attend it, it is the only route of com¬ 
munication with our Pacific territories which presents any attrac¬ 
tion. It is the most economical, certain, and healthy route. 


* Between Gorgona and Panama the levels were repeatedly checked, and found to be exact, which lends 
great confidence to those taken below Gorgona, although they were not proved. 



39 


As regards the vast importance of the road, and the influence 
it is calculated to exert on the great interests of commerce, I re¬ 
fer to the report of the Hon. T. Butler King (from the Committee 
on Commerce) to the House of Representatives at its last session, 
and to an able and philosophical communication from Lieut. 
Maury, of the navy, printed with the report of the Hon. J. A. 
Rockwell, (from a select committee of the House of Representa¬ 
tives,) recently published. 

In reference to the construction of a ship canal on this route, I 
should think the question of its practicability more than proble¬ 
matical, unless all consideration of cost be disregarded. This 
opinion I ought to express with great diffidence, since Mr. Garella 
has arrived at an opposite conclusion, after a careful and labori¬ 
ous investigation of the question. But, as our recent lines of sur¬ 
vey completely covered the country to which he looks for his 
principal supply of water, I feel compelled to say that I consider 
it altogether inadequate for the purpose, and that the feeders in¬ 
dicated on his maps (and which were probably not traced by an 
actual survey) are impracticable except at an immense expense. 

Besides this, the cost of the work is undoubtedly placed much 
too low. Mr. Garella estimates the whole expense of the canal, 
including the artificial harbors at Vaca del Monte and Limon 
Bay, at 139,000,000 of francs, or about twenty-seven millions of 
dollars. He proposes a tunnel through the summit chain 122 
feet high, 69 feet wide, and 5,900 yards long, with open cuttings 
at its termini of 160 feet deep. He supposes, and I have no doubt 
correctly, that his whole tunnel must be pierced through solid 
porphyry, and yet he estimates this at 12 francs ($2.28) the cubic 
metre, whereas three times that price would probably not ac¬ 
complish it. We shall be compelled, therefore, to largely increase 
Mr. Garella’s estimate; and when we look to the probable defi¬ 
ciency of water for the summit level suggested by him, and the 
consequent necessity of assuming one still lower, it will not be 
very extravagant to place it at a cost of $50,000,000. 

I do not wish to be understood as asserting that Mr. Garella’s 
project is absolutely impracticable ; but that, if he had actually 
traced his reservoirs and feeders with instruments, he would have 
found physical difficulties of a character which he did not sup¬ 
pose to exist, and which we shrunk from encountering with our 
railroad, which might far more easily have been accommodated to 
the nature of the ground. Mr. Garella would have been com¬ 
pelled to project long tunnels and vast aqueducts, of dimensions 
never before contemplated for feeding canals; hence it is I have 
said that he would probably have to adopt a still lo wer summit level 
than the one suggested. I am far, however, from questioning that 
gentleman’s science or skill, for his survey and report exhibit both, 
and it was evidently the want of time that prevented him from 
more thoroughly investigating the subordinate but highly import¬ 
ant branches of the subject. I do not doubt that he could collect 
all the water lor which he estimates, but it would certainly be 
at an immense cost. 


40 


There is one other point in which I think he- is mistaken. It is 
a very natural one. He thinks that the tunnel, passing as it 
would through solid rock, would not require arching , except pos¬ 
sibly for an inconsiderable extent. But when we look to its great 
size, and weight of the superincumbent mass resting on its ver¬ 
tex, it would be unsafe to trust to its natural strength. 

The Penaenabaeh tunnel (comparatively small) is the only one 
in England, that I am aware of, that is self-supporting. It Is 
driven through solid basaltic rock. The Penmaenwahr tunnel, 
pierced through hard greenstone, had to be lined throughout ; and 
the Bangor tunnel, which was at first supposed to be sufficiently 
firm, has been recently cased with brick. Mr. Garella calcu¬ 
lates the additional cost of arching at 13,900,000 francs, mak¬ 
ing a total of 139,000,000. For an open cut forty-five feet higher 
than the tunnel he estimates the cost at 149,000,000 francs, and 
for an open cut on the same level 165,000,000. The higher level 
w T ould, of course, be still more objectionable, not only on account 
of the additional lockage, but also of the increased difficulty in 
supplying it with water. 

The line which I have traced for a railroad is, I think, more 
favorable for a ship canal than that suggested by Garella.* If 
we were to adopt the same depth of cutting which he recom¬ 
mends for an open cut. it would leave the bottom of the canal on 
our line, only forty-four feet above the level of the Pacific, at high 
tide. This would be about ten feet lower than the bed of the ri¬ 
ver at Gorgona. An open cut 195 feet deep—the precise maxi¬ 
mum depth of the celebrated Mexican desague of Huehuetoca— 
would obviate all difficulty in the crossing of the Chagre river at 
Gorgona, while the Rio Grande, the Obispo, and the Mandingo 
might be converted into immense reservoirs for supplying the 
summit level with water, and the Rio Chagre from above Cruces, 
and the Pedro Miguel, Cameron, &c. would furnish the lower le¬ 
vels. This work would be enormously expensive, and I am far from 
recommending it to public attention. A spacious tide-basin might 
be constructed for ships in the mouth of the Rio Grande, a few 
miles to the west of Panama. 

The principal towns of the Isthmus Provincef are Panama, Por¬ 
to Bello, Chorrera, Los Santos, Nata, Darien, and the small villa¬ 
ges of Chagre, Gatun, Gorgona, and Cruces, on the Rio Chagre. 
The population is supposed to be about 100,000, but the census is 
taken with so little care that it is difficult to arrive at anj r satis¬ 
factory result as to the number of the people. A large propor¬ 
tion of the inhabitants are of Indian, negro, or of mixed blood, 
in various proportions of white, black, and copper-color. Mulattoes 
in easy circumstances, and most of those in which the white fea¬ 
ture predominates, are, by courtesy, classed with the “ Sangre 
Azul” or “ Gentes de razon,” terms applied to white people. The 

* Owing to the close proximity of this line to the “ source of supply,” the summit level might be con¬ 
siderably more elevated. 

t The provinces of Veragna, Panama, and Darien, formerly constituted what the Spaniards called tli* 
“ Tierra Firma” or the Spanish Main of the Buccaneers. 



41 


inhabitants of Chagre, Gorgona, Cruces, and of the rancherias on 
the river, are nearly all of the unadulterated African race, or 
“ Zamboes,” a mixture of Indians and negroes, liberated slaves 
from New Grenada, or from the West India Islands. Large num¬ 
bers of them, also, are to be found in the city of Panama, and in 
Porto Bello. They are physically strong and muscular, but in 
character most degraded, ignorant, and besotted. Capable of 
great toil and endurance, and submitting, when necessary, most 
cheerfully to abstinence, they are lazy, treacherous, drunken, and 
gluttonous, (when they can procure the means of indulgence,) 
and are, on the whole, the worst population I have ever known, 
entertaining no other idea of liberty than freedom from work and 
the license of being as impudent as they please to the whites, who 
stand in no little awe of them. 

The ordinary life of the cargadores , or porters, while I was on 
the isthmus was something like this: A fellow would wait at 
Gorgona for a job, which he would not undertake without enor¬ 
mous wages. He would then carry a trunk to Panama, and im¬ 
mediately return ; but so long as a penny was left, no earthly 
power could induce him to engage on any other work. During 
this short interval, his principal indulgence was to gorge himself 
with food, to get drunk, and to sing and dance all night, making 
in the meantime as loud and hideous a noise as possible. This 
usually lasted some three or four days, at the end of which period, 
if he escaped dying of cholera , he was ready for another expedi¬ 
tion, to be succeeded by another round of bestial dissipation. 

The rural population, consisting of Indians, and a mixture of 
Indians and whites, called “ Mestizos,” 1 is of a different character. 
They are simple, frank, honest, and hospitable, but indolent, ow¬ 
ing, perhaps, to the want of inducement amongst them to labor, 
and to the fact that the spontaneous products of the soil, with 
yams, a little rice, corn, and beef, supply all their frugal wants ; 
and nowhere, probabty, on the earth’s surface, does nature reward 
more bountifully a little industry judiciously applied. But for 
this, it would be ‘ c a marvel and a mystery” how the inhabitants, 
limited as they are, find subsistence ; for, with the exception of 
the savannas on the Pacific, and an occasional patch of sugar 
cane, maize, or rice, (on the sides of the highest hills,) the portion 
of the isthmus which I visited is one unbroken primeval forest, 
and one sees every where around him the greatest, most magnifi¬ 
cent, and beautiful developments of vegetable life, gratifying at 
once the senses of sight and smell. It is like one vast green¬ 
house , abundantly watered with limpid mountain streams, of 
which the celebrated conservatory at “ Chatsworth” is but a fee¬ 
ble imitation. The growth is so extremely dense as to be almost 
impenetrable without cutting. The trees, of which there are a 
great variety, grow to an immense size—from fifteen to twenty- 
five feet in diameter, and towering to the height of a hundred 
feet, some of them eighty or ninety feet without a limb, and one 
species throwing out, some twenty feet from the ground, four large 


42 


flying buttresses , (for I know not how else to describe them,) the 
planes of which intersect at right angles. These contrivances 
of nature to sustain the enormous tree against the violence of the 
winds, are singularly like the light flying buttress one sees in Eu¬ 
ropean Gothic cathedrals. More than forty kinds of trees, valu¬ 
able for ornamental and useful purposes, are known to exist on 
the isthmus, the most of which, although of rapid growth, are 
hard and lasting; some of them are liable to injury from the at¬ 
tacks of white ants, which soon destroy them ; others, again, are ex¬ 
empt from their ravages, and are very durable under water, not only 
resisting decay, but the inroads of the testudo navalis. The most 
important of these trees are the alfagilla, bungo, cedro, or cedar, 
(out of which large coasting canoes, sixty feet long and six feet 
wide at the gunwale, rigged with sails, are made from a single 
tree,) cedro cebollo, caobo, or mahogony, another and fine-grained 
mahogony called caobilla, coco bolo, ebony, garapata, guachapa- 
li, a kind of teak, lignum vitae, quira, (very hard and compact, 
used for rollers in sugar mills, and very difficult to work,) nispero, 
and zapodilla, the two last resembling each other closely, and be¬ 
ing probably identical. All of these timbers are admirably adapt¬ 
ed for building purposes, and some of them are known to have been 
in use for at least two hundred years in exposed situations, and are 
still perfectly sound. As to their strength and durability, there 
can be no question. For a more particular description of the 
timbers of the isthmus, I refer to the extracts from a report by 
Wm. H. Sidell, Esq., principal engineer of the Panama Division, 
appended to this letter. 

Besides the before-mentioned timbers, the Indian Rubber tree 
and the cow-tree, or arbol de vaca, are quite common, and a vine 
which supplies, when cut, a cup of cool and delicious water, to 
which we often resorted, to slake our thirst. 

There appears to be two kinds of the cow-tree—the one called 
by Humboldt Palo de Vaca, the other described by Dr. Webster, 
surgeon of H. M. sloop Chanticleer, as the “ Vacco-dendron 
Lactifera,” or milk-bearing tree. It is this latter species, I think, 
which is found on the isthmus, although Humboldt’s tree may 
also exist there. Dr. Webster, in speaking of its juice, which is 
collected by tapping the trunk of the tree, says: “It seems rather 
startling to talk of a tree yielding milk; but such is the fact, and 
it is drunk by the people in large quantities, and was used by us 
at the gun room table, for mixing with tea, in lieu of cow’s milk, 
from which it is no ways distinguishable in general use. The 
milk is a rich, white, bland fluid, without odor, and of the taste and 
flavor of common milk. It mixes readily with tea or coffee, without 
curdling or undergoing any change, and in every respect seems like 
cow’s milk. Boiling water does not alter it. It keeps unaltered six 
or seven days in the temperature of 85°. In fourteen days it evolv¬ 
ed a sour odor, but had not coagulated ; a gummy pellicle adher¬ 
ed to the cork. Some vinegar was added to the recent milk with¬ 
out producing any immediate change; in forty-eight hours it ac¬ 
quired an unpleasant odor.” 


43 

He further states that the timber of this tree is valuable for 
ship-building. 

Humboldt says, “It is at the rising of the sun this vegetable 
fountain is most abundant; the blacks and natives are then seen 
hastening from all quarters, with large bowls to receive the milk, 
which grows yellow and thickens at the surface.” Capt. Charles 
Cochrane, of the Royal Navy, in his work of travels in Columbia, 
speaks of two different cow trees. One he calls the Liria , which 
corresponds with Dr. Webster’s description; the other Sandi-tree , 
which he thinks is Humboldt’s. The milk of the latter, he says, 
“ is not so agreeable as that of the Liria,” on which the negroes of 
Escondie, on the Pacific, who drink it in large quantities, grow fat. 

The Liria is a very lofty tree, rising frequently to the height of 
more than one hundred feet, the bark of a brownish color, and the 
leaf large and ovate. It flowers in February, or early in March, 
and produces a nice fruit, said to resemble in flavor “ strawberries 
and cream I did not taste it. 

Amongst the numerous natural fruits of the isthmus may be 
enumerated those of the achras caimito, the liria, already men¬ 
tioned, the guava, the peach mango, the lime, and the agua- 
cat 6, or alligator pear, which grows on the Lauras Persea. 
This last is a very valuable and pleasant fruit, constituting an 
important part of the food of the people. It is altogether unlike 
any other fruits that I have seen. It makes a delicious dish with 
sugar, or with pepper and salt; or a first rate salad when proper¬ 
ly dressed; or it may be eaten as butter, and is sometimes called 
“ subaltern butteror as a vegetable with cold meat. It is said 
to be, when boiled, a true vegetable marrow. Its seeds answer 
a good purpose for marking or indelible ink. The orange, the 
lemon, and the pine apple are found growing wild in the woods, 
but are probably not indigenous. We must not omit to mention 
here the rose-apple, (euginia jambos,) a delicious fruit. 

Coffee and cocoa are cultivated to some extent; the first for 
domestic use, and the last for exportation. The vanilla is indige¬ 
nous, rarely cultivated, and does not constitute an article of com¬ 
merce ; but might, no doubt, be grown to advantage. Wheat, it 
is said, has yielded well in the few experiments which have 
been tried to test its adaptability to the soil and climate. One of 
the greatest blessings to the people of this region is the cocoa-nut 
tree, which affords them food, drink, coarse cloth, and various do¬ 
mestic utensils. It is a most beautiful object and always forms, 
with the stately and waving palm, a graceful feature in tropical 
landscapes. Not inferior in importance to the cocoa-nut are the 
plantain and banana ; which, together with the casave, are meat 
and bread to the natives. 

The different vines of the country, of which there are a great 
variety and immense numbers, when twisted, are excellent sub¬ 
stitutes for cordage; and a plant called peta, somewhat similar 
to the Mexican sortal , yields an excellent and fine soft thread, 
from which linen may be fabricated. Its leaves are large and 


44 


the fibres long, strong, clean and resembles flax, and may be 
easily separated, when first gathered, from the leaf. 

The isthmus has been celebrated for venomous snakes, scorpi¬ 
ons, and other poisonous reptiles, but our surveying parties met 
with few of that description. Only two large serpents were seen, 
supposed to be anacondas, one of them within three miles of Pana¬ 
ma, and the other near Navy Bay. If we may judge from our 
own experience, snakes, scorpions, centipedes, and tarantulas, are 
rare; and mosquitoes are not abundant, at least in the dry season. 

But there are other insects whose sole purpose of existence 
would seem to be the annoyance of the unwary traveller. 
Amongst them may be enumerated garapatos , a blood-thirsty 
kind of ticks, which are extremely numerous, the pulga , or savan- 
naflea, the common flea, and the niquas or chijos , which fasten 
upon the tender parts of the feet, especially about the toe joints, 
and soon cause a very inconvenient, painful, and sometimes dan¬ 
gerous sore, if not extracted in time. The natives are very adroit 
in removing them, as their skill is called into daily requisition, 

The wild animals are tigers, oucelots, two different kinds of 
wild hogs, bears, raccoons, deer, many varieties of monkies (the 
young of which the natives eat) including the champanze, and a 
curious beast called, according to Major Lloyd, “ the macho or 
vacca del monte , and also danta , nearly of the size and appearance 
of a jackass, which, when shot, is considered a great dainty.” It 
gives name to the harbor at the mouth of the Rio Caimito (or Al¬ 
ligator) river, in the vicinity of which it is frequently found and 
hunted. The natives say that lions are sometimes seen. 

The birds of the isthmus are less numerous, and their plumage, 
with few exceptions, less brilliant than I had supposed. They con¬ 
sist mainly of wild turkeys, pheasants, (or birds resembling them,) 
ducks, pigeons, parrots, parroquets, macows, and an infinite va¬ 
riety of humming birds. The zopilotes or turkey buzzards are 
seen everywhere, actively discharging their natural and useful 
duties of scavengers. A crowd of them is usually attended, or 
rather apparently directed, by one or more king vultures, or caci¬ 
ques , as they are called, who are uniformly treated by their subjects 
with profound respect. It is quite amusing to see the king 
vulture gorging himself on the dainty parts of a dead mule or alli¬ 
gator, while a hungry crowd of zopilotes are observing him with 
the deferential air of the obsequious courtiers of the grande mon- 
arque, when his Majesty graciously permitted them to see him eat 
his royal dinner at Versailles. At other times the sovereign of 
the vulture tribe seems to be holding a council, surrounded by his 
black guards , or perhaps commanding some one of his trusty ser¬ 
vants to watch the last agonies of a dying horse. The guana or 
iguana is esteemed by the inhabitants as a great delicacy, and it 
is said that foreigners, after they have overcome the disgust ex¬ 
cited by its appearance, also become fond of it; and certainly, so 
far as physical beauty is concerned I do not know that it is much 
inferior to its culinary rival the terrapin, so popular on the shores 


45 


of the Chesapeake. He must have been truly a brave man who 
first ventured upon eating either. The guana is a large, hideous, 
green lizard, crested on the back and throat, with an inflated gular 
pouch. Its body is about two feet long, and tail three feet long. 
It is a very formidable and dangerous looking animal, but per¬ 
fectly harmless, and as timid as a hare. It possesses extraordinary 
tenacity of life, and Dr. Webster says that the inhabitants of Para, 
who are very fond of its eggs, “open the abdomen and cut the 
oviducts, with the chain of eggs, and let the animal go again in 
the hope of catching him again next year, for nature repairs the 
injury.” “ I was surprised to find that each egg contained a foetus 
or embryo guana; the heart of it was beating strongly. In all 
the females of this species that I could obtain, the eggs were uni¬ 
formly the same, and contained a live young one. It is therefore 
ovoviviparous.” 

The capital and most important city of the Isthmus Province is 
Panama; It contains about ten thousand inhabitants, and is re¬ 
markably healthy. (See Dr. Halstead’s report in the Appendix.) 
It is an ancient and walled town, most pleasantly situated on a 
tongue of land projecting into the Pacific ocean, which washes its 
walls on three sides, and whose light breezes agreeably temper 
the tropical heats. Formerly it was a place of great consequence 
and wealth, but its principal public edifices are fast falling into 
ruins. The private houses are large, airy, and commodious, and 
well adapted to the climate, but the town is not well watered, its 
chief supply being brought on mules from a stream some three 
miles distant. The view seaward from the ramparts is most lovely. 
The magnificent Bay of Panama lies before it, studded with beau¬ 
tiful volcanic islands, covered with cultivated gardens to their 
highest peaks, or green with the graceful vegetation of the tropics, 
while on its bosom float the largest class of merchant ships and 
majestic steamers freighted with the riches of El Dorado; and, 
as if to add animation to the magic scene, hundreds of canoes, 
with their white lateen sails, skim its placid waters “ like things 
of life,” flitting to and from the shore, from island to island, and 
from ship to ship. At a distance they might be taken for those 
great ocean birds whose ancient haunts they have disturbed. 

The present city of Panama must not be confounded, as it has 
recently been, with old Panama, about four miles to the southeast, 
which was destroyed by the buccaniers in 1670. It was built on 
the site of an Indian village, situated on a low, marshy plain, and 
was considered to be very unhealthy. This, together with its ex¬ 
posure to the attacks of pirates, caused it to be abandoned, and 
the new town to be founded in its present position. It would seem 
almost unnecessary to add that it was commenced long after the 
death of Hernan Cortez. It was from the old town that Pizzaro, 
Almegro, and their adventurous associates sailed for the conquest 
of Peru. 

The great drawback to the otherwise agreeable city of Panama 
is its excessive filth. It is probably one of the dirtiest towns in the 


48 


World, garbage and offal of every description being thrown into 
the streets; and its salubrity, under such circumstances, is the 
best possible commentary on the climate. Its only scavengers are 
buzzards, swine* and fowls, and the periodical rains perhaps re¬ 
move a portion of the rubbish, otherwise it would be utterly intol¬ 
erable. It reminds one forcibly of Coleridge’s celebrated apostrophe 
to the “ town of Cologne,” commencing: 

“ Ye nymphs who reign o’er sewers and sinks.’* 

Next in consequence is the town of Porto Bello. It Was dis¬ 
covered by Columbus in 1502, who appropriately named it the 
beautiful harbor. It is situated in latitude 9° 34' 35" north longi¬ 
tude, 70° 45' west of Greenwich. It is nearly surrounded by high 
mountains, which, shutting out the sea breeze, render the heat op¬ 
pressive ; and, in connection with exhalations and decomposition 
of vegetable matter, the climate extremely unhealthy. 

Porto Bello was formerly celebrated as the depot for the rich 
trade of the South American Pacific coast, but her glofy has de¬ 
parted, and she is now nothing more than a miserable negro vil¬ 
lage of about 1,200 inhabitants. Dr. Webster, in speaking of it, 
says : “This town was once indeed the treasury of the Old and 
New World; bars of silver and ingots of gold were piled in the 
streets, without fear or anxiety for their safety. On these occa¬ 
sions the most gorgeous display of specie was to be seen at Porto 
Bello; revelry and feasting were kept up; the presence of ships 
laden with merchandise, the vast influx of traders, contributed to 
enliven the scene; and at this time the rent of a floor in some of 
the houses cost the prodigious sum of $1,000 per month. But this 
Was in the “ good old times” of Porto Bello—her golden age, that 
is not likely to return, nor any incitement to renew the system of 
buccaneering.” 

Formerly a paved mule road existed from Panama to Porto 
Bello via San Juan on the Pequini, but it is now dilapidated and 
unused. In consequence of representations which had been made 
of a feasible railroad route leading from Panama to Porto Bello, 
I caused the intermediate country to be carefully examined, but 
the result was extremely unfavorable. 

Of the villages it is scarcely necessary to make further observa¬ 
tions, than that they are generally composed of small, uncomforta¬ 
ble reed houses, some of which are left open, and others are 
plastered with a mixture of clay and cow dung, the latter material 
exhaling at all times, especially in the rainy season, a not very 
agreeable but, it is said, healthy odor. Some of these tenements 
are thatched with palm leaves, and others covered with earthern 
tiles, but all are without floors. 

The condition of the people is greatly inferior to that of Mexico, 
and a marked difference exists in their apparent devotion to and 
respect for religion and its ministers, if we may judge from the 
universal dilapidation of the churches on the isthmus. In Mexico, 
on the contrary, every little village has its small but neat church 
in a decent state of repair. 


47 


The limits of this paper necessarily restrain me from presenting 
many detailed facts which might nevertheless have an important 
bearing on the question, and I have therefore, notwithstanding the 
great accumulation of matter in my possession, treated it in a gen¬ 
eral way, giving results, rather than the elements from which they 
have been obtained ; and have touched but slightly upon the me¬ 
teorology, health, natural productions and resources of the isthmus, 
on which a volume might be written. But I propose at some fu¬ 
ture time, and in a different way, to attempt to do ample justice 
to this interesting subject* « 

[It is proper to remark, in closing this portion of the subject, 
that the examinations in the vicinity of Limon Bay were not as 
minute as could have been desired, or as will be necessary before 
that portion of the road may be placed under contract. It was 
ascertained that a good trace could be obtained there, and it was 
then thought more important to bestow what remained of our 
time in the country between Gorgona and Panama. It Will re¬ 
quire a good deal of additional labor to select the best line from 
Manzanilla harbor to the Chagre river.] 

5th—ISTHMUS OF DARIEN. 

Intermediate between Chagres and the Gulf of Darien it has 
been supposed that a good line for a railroad or a canal might be 
found from Mandingo Bay to the Bay of San Miguel. In refer¬ 
ence to these representations I visited Mandingo bay, and satis¬ 
fied myself, from personal inspection and inquiry, that nothing 
was to be hoped for in that quarter, and that all that had been 
said about large canoes having been taken over this country, 
from the Atlantic to the Pacific, was fabulous. Occasionally a 
pit-pan (a small canoe that two men might carry) may have been 
thus transported ; but nothing more. In fact, the Mandingo In¬ 
dians, who frequently visit Panama, almost invariably go by the 
Avay of Chagre. An old and intelligent man told me that he once 
returned from Panama through his own country, but that it oc¬ 
cupied “ ten days for him to catch Mandingo” by that route. He 
described it as being extremely mountainous, as we could see for 
ourselves it undoubtedly was. There are no considerable streams 
flowing into Mandingo. 

From the Gulf of Darien are three routes which have been ad¬ 
vocated for connecting the two oceans; but I have seen nothing 
to satisfy me that they are anything more than plausible. All the in¬ 
formation we have concerning them is general, speculative, and 
intangible. It amounts to this, that somebody , a pilot perhaps, 
passed over the ground and thinks the country is nearly level. 
The best information, after all, that we possess, is derived from 
the military expeditions which have traversed the isthmus, es¬ 
pecially from the buccaniers. 

In April, 1680, the pirates Sharp and Sawkins, crossed with 
three hundred and thirty-one men from the Gulf of Darien to the 


48 


Gulf of San Miguel, on the Pacific, on their way to attack New 
Panama. They give a very unfavorable account of the route 
over which they were guided by their Indian friends, and they 
describe it as being extremely rugged and difficult. 

In April, 1681, Dampier crossed from the Pacific to Darien. It 
took him twenty-three days to perform the journey. 

In 1670, after a gallant defence, a party of Captain Henry Mor¬ 
gan’s men, under the command of Brodeley, captured by storm 
the formidable castle of S-in Lorenzo, at the mouth of Chagre ri¬ 
ver, 280 out of 314 of the garrisoi^ having perished in the on¬ 
slaught ; not a single officer having escaped alive. Nothing could 
have been more ferocious and desperate than the assault; no¬ 
thing more noble and devoted than the resistance. 

On the 18th of August of the same year, Morgan, with 1,200 
buccaniers, marched up the Chagre, and after ten days of incred¬ 
ible toil and privation, having been compelled to eat skins, lea¬ 
ther, and reptiles, reached Old Panama, which they took, sacked, 
and after perpetrating every kind of conceivable enormities, ut¬ 
terly destroyed. They were seven days in reaching Cruces, and, 
although it was during the usual wet season, there was no com¬ 
plaint of the rains, and the river appears to have been low. The 
expedition was accompanied by a Frenchman, who has written 
a history of it, in which he accurately describes the country and 
its productions. 

In December, 1821, General Bolivar landed a large force at Li- 
mon Bay, and opened a road on the right bank of the river Cha¬ 
gre to Gorgona and to Cruces. The artillery and baggage were 
transparted by water, but the troops marched by land, some cak¬ 
ing the road from Gorgona to Panama, and others from Cruces. 
This column was destined to assist in the expulsion of the Spaniards 
from Peru, which was accomplished by the glorious victory of 
Ayucliuco. Commodore Daniels, of Baltimore, commanded the 
fleet. 

Another route across this isthmus is from the Rio Atrato, dis¬ 
charging into the Gulf of Darien, to the bay and harbor of Cu- 
pica, lying in the southeast of Panama, on the Pacific. This line 
was also suggested by the illustrious Homboldt, and has been 
strongly advocated by other writers. Mr. Wheaton, in his admi¬ 
rable despatch No 278,* to the State Department, says: 

“ At the time when Humboldt wrote, the geographical position 
of Cupica was very uncertain ; but Berghaus has since shown, 
by the analyses of various astronomical observations, that it lies 
In seven degrees fifteen minutes north latitude, and eighty degrees 
six minutes and three seconds west longitude from Paris. From 
Cupica the traveller passes over a fiat country, (terreno, entera- 
mente blano,) very proper for the excavation of a canal, which, 
at the distance of five or six leagues, would unite with the River 
Naipi, or Naipipi, which joins near the village of Zittara, the 


* See Rockwell’s Report Ho. of Reps., Doc. No. [45. 



49 


great River Atrato, which flows into the Gulf of Darien. The 
navigation of the Naipi is impeded by cataracts and rapids, 
which, according to Captain Cochrane, would require a lateral 
canal to avoid them. The great chain of the Andes, according 
to this traveller, is here entirely broken off, and sinks first into hills 
and then into level plains between the Bay of Cupica and the 
mouth of the Atrato. But it would require a much more accu¬ 
rate knowledge of the country than we at present possess to deter¬ 
mine the practicability of constructing a ship canal in this direction. 

In connection with this matter, I subjoin an extract from Capt. 
Cochrane’s journal, which would seem definitively to settle the 
question. Captain Cochrane was a highly intelligent traveller, 
and remained two years in Colombia, the greater portion of which 
was spent in exploring the country. He says distinctly that this 
communication, even if it were opened, could never become of 
great utility, from its distance, and the brief season of the year 
in which it is practicable : 

“March \bth .—During the night passed the river Niapippi, 
which is badly laid down in the best charts, being at least one 
hundred and eighty miles below Citera, instead of close to it. 
This river is partly navigable, but the navigation very dangerous 
and unfitted for commerce ; and as for forming a canal or iron rail¬ 
way, it is impossible—at least, I was informed so at Citera, by 
Major Alvarez, a Colombian officer, who crossed over to Panama 
by that route. He said that he found the river Niapippi shallow, 
rapid, and rocky; that the land carriage to Tupica was over three 
sets of hills, and that he could perceive no possibility of making 
a communication between the Niapippi and the Pacific ocean; 
and from all the information I have been able to collect, I con¬ 
ceive that Baron Humboldt (who did not visit this spot himself) 
must have been misinformed on the subject of this communica¬ 
tion with the Pacific Ocean.” 

6tH—OF THE DIFFERENT PROJECTED RAILROAD ROUTES TO THE 

PACIFIC, WITHIN THE TERRITORIES OF THE UNITED STATES, 

This subject has been so thoroughly and ably discussed by 
Rockwell, Abert, Wilkes, Maury, Alexander, and others, that but 
little remains for me to say. In some essential points, however, 
with great respect for those gentlemen, and distrust of my own 
judgment, I am constrained to differ from them all. I do not be¬ 
lieve that such a road can ever become a great commercial tho¬ 
roughfare, and I much doubt if it would, when completed, for a 
century to come, more than pay its expenses. The lowest esti¬ 
mate I have seen for the cost of transportation per ton per mile- 
is three cents. This would make the freight of a ton of mer¬ 
chandise from San Diego to St. Louis, or to Memphis, not less 
than $60, and to New York more than $90. The cost to the lat¬ 
ter port by the way of Cape Horn would not exceed $20. I am 
aware that time is an important element in commercial transae- 
4 


50 


tions, but is it worth the difference in money above stated f Is 
there, in fact, any merchandise except bullion, and perhaps very 
costly teas and rich silks, that could possibly bear that amount of 
expense on their freights? I should think not. For compara¬ 
tively short distances such a road might be used to a small extent 
for the transportation of supplies for a very limited population. 
But large portions of it, whichever line may be selected, must ne¬ 
cessarily pass through regions on which nature has indelibly affix¬ 
ed her curse of sterility, and which can support only a nomadic 
race, whose means are small and wants few. The topographical 
features are believed not to be unfavorable for the construction 
of a railroad, when its great length is taken into consideration, 
although long sections of it must necessarily be difficult, and the 
whole, in comparison with the same amount of work in the North¬ 
ern States, very expensive, owing to the want of labor, of subsis¬ 
tence, and many of the means of execution in the vicinity of the 
line. The bridges would probably have to be constructed of iron. 
The cost of superintendence, repairs, and transportation on the 
best managed Northern railroads of the United States is usually 
estimated at about one-half of the receipts, the most profitable 
portion of which are derived from freights and way travel. On 
this road, where the fuel will have to be transported for long dis¬ 
tances ; where the freight and way travel will be extremely small; 
where there is great danger of large portions of the road (and es¬ 
pecially the bridges, if built of wood) being destroyed by fires, 
kindled by accident or design; and where frequent interruptions 
may be expected from the Indians and the hunters, whose hunting 
grounds will be disturbed by the transit of the train, the propor¬ 
tional expenses must be greatly enhanced. It is known that fires 
periodically pass like “ besoms of destruction” over the vast west¬ 
ern prairies. These fire tornadoes have been described by eye¬ 
witnesses as most appalling, sweeping along with frightful rapid¬ 
ity, leaping over broad streams, and consuming every thing com¬ 
bustible in their progress. 

I am not prepared, however, to say that there may not be great 
political reasons (involving the transmission of the mails, milita¬ 
ry defences, and the development of the resources of the country 
traversed) for the construction of such a road ; and that it may 
not be the true policy of our Government to expend upon it $100,- 
000,000, or even $150,000,000, and perhaps some $3,000,000 or 
$4,000,000 annually for expenses and repairs. These are conside¬ 
rations for the statesman, not for the engineer. 

The most favorable route for a railroad from the Mississippi to 
the Pacific is, in my opinion, that described so minutely by Col. 
Abert, Chief Topographical Engineer, who has supported his pro¬ 
ject with his usual ability. It is to commence at San Diego on 
the Pacific, and to strike thence to the Colorado, following up its 
affluent, the Gila, to near its source; then passing into the valley 
of the Rio Grande del Norte, keeping within the jurisdiction of 
the United States. From this point the line would pass through 


51 


Texas to Nacogdoches, where Col. Abert proposes a bifurcation 
of the road—the one branch nearly direct to the Mississippi, above 
the mouth of Red river. A slight deflection from Nacogdoches 
would carry it to Vicksburg, or to Memphis, as might be deemed 
most expedient. “ The northern branch will probably find its 
better course to cross the Red river at the great bend or its vicini¬ 
ty ; then crossing the Arkansas at Little Rock, pursue its course 
to St. Louis; then crossing the river to pursue the most direct favora¬ 
ble course which can be obtained south of the great lakes, to Pitts¬ 
burg.” These two lines when actually traced, and the work fin¬ 
ished, would probably exceed two thousand miles. 

This route, with its bifurcations and adaptability to further late¬ 
ral improvements and extensions, is, I think, much superior to all 
others, and is certainly less open to some of the objections which 
I have urged against them. 

[Since the above was written I have read with care a very in¬ 
teresting pamphlet by J. Loughborough, Esq., of St. Louis, on the 
different railroad routes to the Pacific, in which he advocates 
with great zeal a line proposed by him from Missouri to the bay 
of San Francisco. This pamphlet is the result of much labor, 
and presents nearly all the information which is known on the 
subject, derived either from the personal observations of the au¬ 
thor, which have been extensive, or from the explorations of 
others.] 

Mr. L. says, “ The portion of this route from St. Louis to the 
western boundaries of the State has been so much better des¬ 
cribed than we can hope to do it, by W. R. Singleton, Esq., in the 
last number of the Western Journal , that we shall here insert his 
observations, with the assurance to the public that they are the 
observations of an accomplished engineer, and one who is proba¬ 
bly more familiar with the topography of this section of the State 
than any one living. 

“ After a careful examination, I at once pronounce it by all 
means the most practicable and economical to pass from St. 
Louis westwardly, until, by some small stream, the valley of the 
Missouri can be reached just above the Big Bonhomme bottom, 
thence around the slopes of the hills on the south bank of the 
Missouri to the Lamine; up the valley of this stream to Black 
Fork, to Davis’s Fork, and thence on to the main or Lamine ridge, 
between Buck Knob and Wagon Knob, in Lafayette county ; 
thence on said divide to Cool Spring and Lone Jack, in Jackson 
county; and thence, crossing the breaks of Little and Big Blue, 
reach the “ plains,” as they are familiarly called, on the Sante Fe 
road, at Black Jack Point. That this road can be constructed at 
a less cost than any other, all must admit. From St. Louis to 
the Missouri river but one small bridge is required; thence, 
twelve other small bridges to the Gasconade—a large one there ; 
thence, three small ones to Osage—a large one there; thence, 
eleven to mouth of Lamine—total, twenty-seven small bridges, 


52 


average of one hundred feet, and two large ones. It is prefera¬ 
ble, for two reasons, to use the valley of the Missouri; first, the 
grades will be uniform; and, second, the branches of any main 
streams will all be crossed at one point, thus avoiding the difficul¬ 
ties always encountered in crossing a country over the breaks of 
the drainage ; thereby giving a zigzag grade to the road. In ad¬ 
dition, the amount of water to be passed can always be done at 
one point mneh better and cheaper than in fifty or a hundred. 
Again, the Missouri itself will be avoided; whereas, on the north 
side, it must be crossed twice. That the south side of the Mis¬ 
souri is preferable is obvious ; the amount of water received into 
the river from the north is much greater than from the south ; al¬ 
most all the streams on the north side head some distance in Iowa; 
and the whole drainage of the north half of the State is through 
the Missouri river; whereas, on the south half not more than 
two-thirds of it is drained by the Missouri. These are important 
considerations, and have influenced me in forming my opinion.” 

To coincide with the line indicated by us, the latter part of Mr, 
Singleton’s section must be slightly varied to cross the Kansas 
river near its mouth. 

From the mouth of the Kansas to the forks of Platte river this 
route ascends the fertile valley of the Kansas to Blue river, and 
follows that stream nearly to its head, from whence, in twenty- 
five miles, it strikes the Platte, near the head of Grand Island, and 
follows the valley of that river to its forks. This part of the 
route is absolutely free from impediments, and needs no grading, 
so admirably does it lie for a railway. 

Crossing the South fork, where a bridge is requisite, it follows 
the North fork to Laramie, through a valley well nigh as level as 
a floor, and without crossing a stream, until it arrives at Lara¬ 
mie’s Fork, which is about ten yards wide. 

From Fort Laramie to the South Pass the road will need but 
little grading. Fremont says, “ The road, which is now gener¬ 
ally followed through this region, is a very good one, without any 
difficult ascents to overcome.” He adds : “ From the mouth of 
the Kansas to the Green River valley, (west of the mountains,) 
there is no such thing as a mountain road on the line of com¬ 
munication.” 

The South Pass is 7,490 feet above the Gulf of Mexico. Au¬ 
gust 13th, Fremont’s descent in 24 miles was 22 feet per mile. 
August 14th, in 25 miles, 11 feet per mile. August 15th, in 29 
miles, 15 feet per mile. August 16th, in 26 miles, 3 feet per mile. 
August 17th, in 21 miles, 3 feet ascent. August 18th, in 32 miles, 
about 15 feet ascent. August 19th, in 28 miles., about 6 inches 
per mile descent. 

From the South Pass, the route would follow the line of a 
road habitually travelled by the traders, and called “ Sublette’s 
Cut-off,” to the Soda Springs, situated on the northern bend of 
Bear river; and from thence it would pass a little south of west 
to the valley of Humboldt or Mary’s river. This is the only por- 


53 


tion of the route not actually surveyed by Colonel Fremont. 
That enterprising officer travelled from the South Pass up a wes¬ 
tern tributary of the Colorado of the West, and over a dividing 
ridge, into the valley of Bear river, and followed that valley in 
the semi-circular course to the entrance of the river, into the 
Great Salt Lake, and thence proceeded westward, over some 
mountain ridges, to the valley of Mary’s river. “ Sublette’s Cut¬ 
off” derives its name from the fact that there is a saving of 75 
miles of distance from the South Pass to the Soda Springs, and 
upwards of 100 to the valley of Mary’s river. It is also the 
preferable route, because the whole of the mountain ridges are 
entirely flanked from the South Pass to Mary’s river, and the 
general course of a right line from St. Louis better preserved. 
On this part of the route but little grading would be required. 
The section from Soda Springs to the valley of Mary’s river 
was traversed by a party of Bonnerville’s men, and by Bidwell, 
and no mention is made of mountains or other impediments in his 
narrative. Besides, we have ourselves travelled the whole line 
as far as the Colorado of the West, and have seen more than fifty 
men who have passed from thence to Mary’s river, and therefore 
speak advisedly on the subject. 

Down the valley of Mary’s river there is not a single canon 
which may not be easily turned, and for nearly its whole length 
there would be but slight labor in grading. Where the emi¬ 
grant road strikes this river it is 4,700 feet above the sea, and at 
the point where it sinks it is 4,200 feet. The termination of this 
river is within fifty miles of the base of the Sierra Nevada, and 
opposite the Salmon Trout River Pass, which is only 7,200 feet 
above the level of the sea, and less than half that above the level 
of the basin. This pass is forty miles above New Helvetia, by 
which the route descends the valley of the Sacramento, directly 
through the gold region to the bay of Francisco, without any 
impediment whatever. 

There are two other passes of the Sierra Nevada. One of 
these leads into the valley of the Sacramento by following Carson 
river to its source, and then descending the American Fork of 
the Sacramento ; and the other proceeds south from the sink of 
Mary’s river into the valley of the San Joaquin, near its mouth. 
It may be possible that one of these passes will be found prefer¬ 
able to the Salmon Trout Pass, but that is uncertain, and as we 
have found a pass through which thousands of loaded wagons 
will go during the present season, and which has been found by 
Colonel Fremont to be practicable, our object is attained.” 

As public opinion throughout the country seems clearly to indi¬ 
cate a sense of the pressing necessity for some rapid and direct 
communication with our Pacific possessions, it is quite probable 
that a railroad, exclusively within our own territory, to effect this 
desirable object, will receive at an early day the sanction of Con¬ 
gress, and it may therefore be not out of place to advert, in this con¬ 
nexion, to the high importance of a speedy completion of one of 


54 


the short railroads across the American isthmus, not only with 
the view of answering a temporary purpose, for the transporta¬ 
tion of passengers and merchandise, but also as a most useful 
(if not necessary) auxiliary in the construction of the greater 
work. We live in an active, utilitarian, and impatient age, and 
the present generation will not be willing to wait the slow, ordi¬ 
nary progress of construction in the opening of a road 2,000 miles 
long. When once commenced, it must be pushed to completion 
with all possible energy and speed, and one of the efficient 
means to ensure that result will be found, in my opinion, in an 
isthmus railroad. 

In conclusion, sir, permit me to say that I am perfectly conscious 
of having very inadequately performed the duty which you have so 
kindly invited me to assume. Knowing the deep and abiding in¬ 
terest which, for more than twenty years, you have evinced in the 
question which I have undertaken to investigate, I was most anx¬ 
ious to meet your views, and regret that I have not been able to 
render them more ample justice. I have endeavored to condense 
this paper as much as possible, but feel that it is already much 
too long. With more leisure, I could have abridged it to advan¬ 
tage ; but the truth is, the subject is so vast and momentous that I 
found it to expand under my hands, and I scarcely knew when 
to stop. 

Very respectfully, sir, your obedient servant, 

GEO. W. HUGHES. 


APPENDIX. 


(A.) 

Office of Panama Railroad Company, 

New York, July 20, 1849. 
Col. Geo. W. Hughes, Chief Engineer . 

Sir : An estimate has been made of the cost of constructing 
this road from the crossing of the Chagres river, near Gorgona, to 
Panama, the work being of a description suitable for the heavy 
traffic which may be eventually expected ; also, another estimate 
for a road between the same points, sufficient for the transporta¬ 
tion of passengers, with their baggage and light freight; also a 
third estimate, in which parts of each of the above have been 
combined, avoiding the heaviest parts of the superior road, and 
substituting, with a view to its ultimate improvement, the inferior 
road, in the places where this heavy work occurs. I have, be¬ 
sides, carried on the estimates to embrace an extension of the 
road below Gorgona to San Pablo and Aqua Salud respectively, 
for the reason that obstacles exist to the navigation of the river 
at both those points, which it may be found inexpedient to re¬ 
move, starting the road instead from the bank of the river oppo¬ 
site to them. The description of work, for each kind of road, will 
be explained in connection with the estimate. 

The survey of the division of which I had charge covered the 
ground between Gorgona and Panama, and a thorough reconnois- 
sance, made by yourself, of the whole region of country, gave 
strong evidence that we were on the best route, leaving nothing 
to be determined but the precise ground for the location, which 
could be settled by the minute surveys alone. In pursuing these 
surveys, a summit of 299 feet above the high water of the Paci¬ 
fic was found, and this is lower than any heretofore known. After 
this discovery, a consideration of the limited time left to pursue 
our labors, i. e. the continuance of the dry season, induced us to 
suspend further effort in seeking a still lower summit, and through 
the one found the lines of survey were carried. Subsequent ex¬ 
plorations, however, furnished the knowledge that a lower sum¬ 
mit existed in the same vicinity, but as the surveys in connection 
with it have not been made, our estimates are based on the line 
as run. I am, however, well persuaded, that so much of the line 
as has heen modified by this new summit, some 5 miles in extent, 
will be quite favorably affected. The surface of the country over 
which our line passes may be readily described. The mountain 
chain which divides the isthmus, instead of being disposed in long 
high ridges , as is common in mountainous countries, consists rath¬ 
er of a series of hills. The passes among these hills, are unusually 



56 


low, and the streams which occupy them, have, in most instances, 
but small declivity to their beds, excepting when near their sources, 
or in the smallest tributaries. In some few cases, however, we do 
find ridges lying across our route, and when these rise suddenly 
from the streams which wash their bases, we are compelled to 
adopt high masonry and embankments to cross the valleys, and to 
cut deeply through the ridges. In one instance, viz., in passing 
the ridge between the Mandingo and Obispo rivers, we are com¬ 
pelled to resort to tunnelling.* 

It may be conceived, that in a country like this, roads of very 
different degrees of excellence may be made to follow essentially 
the same route by a simple modification of the gradients and the 
radii of the curves. These modifications having been made, we 
are enabled to present the several estimates which I have men¬ 
tioned. 

After running many trial lines, we concluded to locate as fol¬ 
lows : Beginning on the bank of the Chagres, near Gorgona, we 
struck directly for the summit, making no other deflections than 
the minute topography required. At the crossing of the Maria 
Posa river, three miles from Gorgona, we met a heavy bank, 
with deep cutting beyond; at about four miles we came to the 
Mandingo, a river with a long valley, (in fact its upper waters 
wash the base of the dividing ridge of the isthmus,) but, except¬ 
ing in seasons of flood, discharging very little water, its bed is very 
low ; half a mile beyond this, is a ridge running completely across 
the country, so high as to require a tunnel of from 850 to 1,000 
feet in length. This ridge is a spur of the main chain, and can¬ 
not be turned. We reach the tunnel by an ascending grade of 40 
feet to the mile; beyond this is the river Obispo, the bed of which 
is higher than that of the Mandingo by 50 feet. On the side of 
this valley we rise by a moderate grade of 20 feet per mile, cross¬ 
ing the Masimbar and other small streams, until we attain the 
gorge of the main chain of the isthmus, before spoken of as the 
summit of 299 feet above the high water of the Pacific. This 
point is miles distant from Gorgona. Here we have a cut 
about 2,000 feet long, of which about three-fourths is rock, and the 
cutting in the deepest place 45 feet, (average about 35 feet.) Then 
beginning to decend in the valley of a Pacific stream, called the Rio 
Grande, at the rate of 50 feet per mile, we continue this descent 
to and beyond the crossing of the river Pedro Miguel, which is 2f 
miles from the summit, and over which we pass by a bridge 
80 feet in height, and a corresponding embankment 1,000 feet in 
length. This 50 feet grade extends 6,000 feet further beyond the 
Pedro Miguel, giving an incline of 20,000 feet in length, in all. 
After this, we cause the grades to indulate to suit the surface of 
the country, (maintaining always the ruling grade,) crossing seve¬ 
ral small streams, of which the most important are the Caimetillo, 
the Cameron, the Doiminica, the Cardenas, and the Puente, until 
we reach Panama, which we do, with a total distance from the 


This would be avoided by adopting the new summit. 



57 


crossing of the Chagres of 20 x y 7 miles. When near Panama, 
lor about two miles outside of the city, the surface of the country 
is favorable, and any amount of depot accommodation may be 
obtained at small expense. The point selected for the terminus 
is just outside the walls on the west side of the city ; but other 
points have been examined and lines run to them, so that we may 
alter at discretion. 

From the present terminus as selected, business may be done, 
as is usual on the Pacific, by lighters, but the terminus is located 
with reference to the future improvement of the harbor, which, 
when completed, will render it one of the best on the whole Pa¬ 
cific coast. 

The general appearance of the country over which the line 
passes is, as before described, hilly and broken, excepting in the 
vicinity of Panama, where are open plains called savannas. 
The hills do not form continuous ridges, but rise in many detach¬ 
ed peaks, and winding around the sides of these the line follows 
its course. These hills seldom exhibit rock, but are covered 
with dense vegetation to their summits. The undergrowth is 
everywhere very dense, but it is less difficult to remove than the 
underbrush of our country, particularly that of our swamps. 
There is more difficulty in making these clearings for the lines of 
survey than in clearing widely for the purpose of construction, 
because the growth is so interwoven that the labor of removing 
for great widths is proportionably less costly than in clearing for 
mere lines of sight. The timber is not generally heavy, although 
there are often large trees of hard wood, and the ground is filled 
with large roots, but no part of the line is swampy. About four- 
fifths of the distance from Chagres to Panama is through forest. 
From this we may judge of the charaeter and cost of the clearing 
and grubbing. 

The earth excavations will be made generally in red clay , which 
is the common soil of the isthmus. This clay is compact, but I 
think not indurated—there is no appearance of hard-pan ; if there 
be any it will be found probably in thin strata above the rock; 
neither was there any appearance of quicksand. It is possible that, 
as the excavations are made, sand or gravel may be discovered, 
but we have no evidence of its existence, excepting in the beds of 
the streams. Blue clay we did not see, and in fact there is little 
doubt that nearly, if not quite all, the excavations in earth will be 
made in the red clay I have described. 

There is undoubtedly much rock, and though our opportunities 
for minute examination on this point were not great, we have suf¬ 
ficient evidence that in most of the deeper cuts we will encounter 
this material. I do not consider this an objectionable feature of 
the work, as the broken rocks from the cuts will furnish a good 
protection for the embankments against the effects of rains. I 
think that most of the rock will be hard; generally trap or analo¬ 
gous formations. It is true, that there are surface indications of 
a softer rock, and perhaps near Panama we may strike the red 


58 


sandstone, but the probabilities are in favor of a vast preponder¬ 
ance of the trap, and it is safer in our estimates to consider it so. 
Limestone has been seen in the country, but not immediately on 
the line. The nearest known locality is on the Pedro Miguel, 
about eight miles from Panama, and very near our line. 

I think the country gives abundant evidence of the existence of 
quarries of good and durable stone for building in the immediate 
neighborhood of all the prominent works of masonry on the line. 
The heaviest of these are the bridge over the Chagres, the culvert 
at Maria Posa, the bridge over the Mandingo, and that over the 
Pedro Miguel. In neither of these instances will the stone have 
to be hauled over a mile, and it is by no means improbable that 
the cuts in the immediate vicinity of these and other works may 
furnish sufficient stone at least for the backing. The quality of 
the masonry estimated is that commonly called rock-face, with 
well dressed joints throughout, of which the best roads in the 
northern part of the United States furnish the examples. All 
those parts of the bridges commonly exposed to water are to be 
laid in hydraulic cement, the remainder in good lime, mortar or 
dry. Arch culverts to be laid in cement below, and in lime mor¬ 
tar, with a portion of cement in those parts not commonly ex¬ 
posed to water. 

Brick .—The earth of the isthmus is well adapted to the manu¬ 
facture of brick, an article of great usefulness in that climate. 
Many constructions in brick, the work of the Spaniards, as well 
as others of a more modern date, are standing in a perfect state of 
repair. Fuel for burning is abundant, and it is certain that the arti¬ 
cle may be used to great advantage in the construction of the work. 

Lime may be made in the country. Besides the deposites of 
limestone mentioned above, lime has been seen on the Chagres 
river at two points, one near Cruces and the other near Yamos 
Vamos ; and also at other more inland localities. I do not doubt 
that it will be found in many places after the beginning of the 
work of construction. On the Atlantic coast the coral rock has 
furnished the supply for the construction of the works of defence, 
while on the Pacific the shells and calcareous shingle and the 
coral furnish an ample supply. 

Hydraulic cement , of which the quality depends so much on the 
manufacture , will have to be imported. Extra care in the pack¬ 
ing should be required from the manufacturer, to secure this deli¬ 
cate material from the effects of the humidity of the climate. 

Sand y an article so common elsewhere, is less frequently met 
with here than could be wished. It is true that the beds of streams 
will furnish a portion, and the work along the Chagres may be 
supplied from the bed of that stream. Near the Pacific the calca¬ 
reous sand has been used extensively in the military and civil works, 
but between Gorgona and Panama sand cannot be obtained 
abundantly without expensive transportation. 

Wood .—The dense forests still in their primitive state, which 
cover a great portion of the surface of the country, furnish an in- 


59 


exhaustible supply of a great variety of timbers. The range of 
size of the trees is so great, and the qualities so varied, that tim¬ 
ber suitable for every purpose of construction may be selected at 
discretion. I have taken pains to obtain information on the tim¬ 
ber of the country, and I give below what I have gathered. Mr. 
Roy, a mechanic at Panama, Captain Daniel George, a gentleman 
who has travelled over the greater part of the isthmus, and resided 
on it for twenty years, and Senor Manuel Hutardo, of Panama, 
engineer of the Cruces road, a gentleman of character, experience, 
and intelligence, have been my principal informants. 

It will be seen that the names ol the woods are nearly all local, 
and there is so little similarity to the woods to which we are ac¬ 
customed, that I cannot attempt to classify them with our timbers. 

1st. Guachapale. —Is a large tree found in abundance; the tim¬ 
ber has something the appearance of and is about as hard as oak. 
It is excellent under ground. 

2d. Macano or Cacique .—Is a crooked tree, and generally of 
middle size, though sometimes large. It does not readily decay 
under ground or in the water. Stakes driven fifteen years since, 
and washed alternately by salt and fresh water, show no signs of 
change. It is abundant. 

3d. Espino Amarillo .—Is not very abundant. Is good for con¬ 
structions in water. The wood is of yellowish color, straight 
grained and easy to work; it is of light weight and not liable to 
decay, or to the attacks of insects. There are seven kinds of 
Amarillo, all of which are considered good timber. 

4th. Cedro Espino. —This is a large tree, the trunk straight, and 
the timber not heavy. The heart wood alone is good, and this 
stands well in the open air, or under ground, as well as in interiors. 
It is the kind commonly used on the isthmus in making boards. 

5th. Cedro Cebolla .—Large tree, rather crooked; in other res¬ 
pects similar to the Espino. The curate of a village on the isth¬ 
mus assured Mr. Hutardo that the trunk of a fallen tree, lying 
partly in the water, had been used by his people as a bridge from 
time immemorial. 

6th. Cedro Amargo. —Is a large tree, easy to work, and stands 
well in the open air. 

7th. Nispero .—Is a large tree and not easy to work, stands well, 
when not exposed to sun and rain. Insects do not touch it, but it 
is liable to rot if exposed to the inclemency of the weather. It 
is esteemed for its resistance to transverse action. There are 
several varieties, amongst which the Nispero real and Nispero de 
Montana are most esteemed.* 

8th. Quira. —Very fine wood, tree large, timber hard, heavy, 
and difficult to work ; resists friction. It is much used. 

9th. Guayacan .—Large tree, hard, heavy, and difficult to work, 

* The Sapadillo is said to be identical with the Nispero, and there are frequent Instances of the great dura¬ 
bility of this wood. At the castle of San Lorenzo, near Chagres, and amongst the old works at Porto Bello, 
are great quantities, which have endured, under various circumstances of exposure, for half a century and 
over. The timber resembles the cherry of the North, about the same color, hardness, and weight. It is 
quite straight grained and a very finetimbe-. 



60 


bat very strong; is much employed in building. Senor Hutardo 
says, that if left on the ground and exposed to the open air, it 
petrifies, that is, becomes a silicious stone, retaining the appear¬ 
ance of wood. The conditions on which this petrefaction de¬ 
pends are unknown. The figures of the apostles, which are in 
front of the cathedral, are of this wood. They are not less than 
from 35 to 40 years old. It is the same wood known to us by the 
name of lignum vitae. 

10th. Algarobo. —Fine large tree, hard and heavy wood, of red 
color. If properly seasoned it lasts many years exposed to the in¬ 
clemency of the weather; it is very abundant. 

11th. Mangle Caballero. —-This wood is considered as good as 
nispero; it grows generally near the waters edge, is found in 
great abundance, and will give pieces from 35 to 40 feet long, and 
a foot square. 

12th. Alcornoque —(Cork-tree.) A very large tree; will give 
large beams, and wears well. 

13th. Mal-vicino. —Is so named, by the natives, from its ex¬ 
treme hardness and great size. The color of the wood is yellow. 
It is found in abundance, and, as it wears well, it is much em¬ 
ployed in building, notwithstanding the great expense of cutting. 

14th. Caoba. —Trees very large, wood not heavy, and easy to 
work, stands well under a roof. If not properly seasoned it be¬ 
comes brittle; for this reason carpenters object to its use; it is 
mahogany. 

15th. RobTe. —Trees large, wood not heavy, and easy to work, 
stands well in the open air. On the whole, it may be considered 
a good wood. There are two varieties; one of which is not much 
esteemed. 

16th Corotu. —Very large tree, light wood; used for making 
canoes ; not good for general purposes. 

17th. Cedro Bueno and Cedro P assay a .—Are cedars, but the 
least esteemed of the species. They are, however, sometimes 
used. 

18th. Cubo — Mora — Cope. —These trees are abundant but use¬ 
less for the purposes of construction. Quipo. —The laurel, how¬ 
ever, is tough and elastic, and, when dry, is used for masts. 
Bongo — Laurel. 

19th. Torro — Cocobollo — Nazareno—Narangito — Totuna. —The 
first three woods named are very beautiful and are used in cabi¬ 
net-making. The narangito and totuna are fine strong woods, fit 
for the purposes of the wheelwright. Totuna is white and re¬ 
sembles hickory; mortices made in it never split. The tree, 
however, is small and of irregular growth. 

20th. Cano Blanco. —This cane , cut open and cleared of the 
loose fibres, furnishes the cheapest and the best known lathing 
in the country. Under a roof, if properly seasoned, it will stand 
30 or 40 years without injury. 

21st. Espabe. —Is never used: the natives make no use of it, 
although it is very abundant and the trees grow to a great size. 


61 


A Mr. McGregor once erected a saw-mill and cut great quanti¬ 
ties of plank Irom espab6, but it was a failure, as no one would 
use them. 

22d .—Algagia — Nispero — Nazareno—-Madrona de Montano —■ 
Amarillo de Guayquil. —All these woods are much esteemed, be¬ 
cause they can be safely made use of while the tree is still young, 
and measuring but five inches square. The young trees are very 
abundant, easily felled, and carried over any road with compara¬ 
tive ease. They can of course be got cheaper than similar scant¬ 
ling from a saw-mill. They resist well a transverse strain, and 
are particularly good for cross-ties. 

It is assumed that all the woods described above are used, when 
properly seasoned, and that the heart wood alone is employed* 
The hard woods are, however, used, without much regard being 
paid to heart or sap, though this practice should be condemned* 
It is the universal opinion of the country, that the quality of the 
timber is influenced by the time of cutting, in regard to the age 
of the moon; and as the same opinion is prevalent in our own 
country, and in Europe, although regarded by engineers as falla¬ 
cious, I will give the strongly expressed ideas of Senor H—— on 
the subject: 

“ It is a fact within my own observation that no wood should be 
cut before the moon is full. I paid little attention to this popu¬ 
lar belief until I found, by experience, that such was really the case. 
Insects will attack wood that will not be touched by them if cut 
after the lull moon. This is very evident, if the wood is of a light 
and spongy nature. Some vegetable productions will prove this 
in a most striking manner, thus. If our common thatch be gath¬ 
ered under a new moon, it will rot in a few months, and be at¬ 
tacked by worms, while it will last from fifteen to twenty years 
if gathered at the full moon. Those who many years ago built 
houses in this country, are now most particular in selecting their 
woods after this manner.” 

The best time for cutting timber is just before the dry months, 
as it may then season during those months ; whereas if rainy 
weather succeeds the cutting of the timber, it becomes liable to 
decay. 

As I before remarked, most of the above information is drawn 
from Senor Hutardo. I will add what I have derived from other 
sources, when not identical with the above. 

Garella, a French engineer, who triangulated the isthmus, and 
surveyed a route for a canal across, discusses the quipo , nispero , 
guayacan , manpove , cedro , mahogony , and caonchone , but without 
giving much information valuable for our purposes. He remarks 
on the nispero , (which is assimilated with the medlar of Europe,) 
that it is exempt from the attacks of the cornichan and other de¬ 
structive insects and worms. He observes that it is the most 
valuable now known or used on the isthmus for the carpentry of 
houses, and also that it lasts well in the ground, and has been 


62 


got out for the cross ties of a projected railroad in Jamaica. The 
cedro or cedar is used for planks and for canoes. It is not smilar 
to the northern cedar. Mahogany is used in carpentry, but is in¬ 
ferior to that of St. Domingo. It is abundant in the interior of 
the isthmus, and particularly on the Pacific slope. Gyac (guaya- 
can ?) is so hard that the natives do not cut it away from their 
clearings. It is used for the rollers of sugar mills. This is the 
lignum vitse. 

From Mr. Roy the information which I obtained is found in the 
lists above given ; that from Captain George, and from other 
sources, I give below: 

Nuno is a soft wood, like pine, and is called the best wood for 
canoes in the country. Captain George owned a canoe of this 
wood, made, like all their canoes, from a single tree, which was 
twelve feet wide and proportionally long. She was twenty years 
old when he bought her, but perfectly sound, and lasted a long 
time afterwards. She is well remembered in the country by the 
name of the “ Trinidad.” The wood is therefore considered proof 
against the attacks of insects, and not liable to rapid decay. 

Zorro , or Soro, is a striped or mottled wood, of dark color, and 
quite hard. It is used for furniture, and also in carpentry, similar 
to nispero. The tree grows large, with few limbs, and is some¬ 
times used for canoes. The timber would be good for cross ties. 

Amarillo Carhonaro is the best wood for cross ties, resembling 
chestnut somewhat in its qualities. It is straight grained, works 
easily, holds a spike well, and is, moreover, abundant. There are 
seven kinds of amarillo, but that now named is the best. 

Respectfully submitted, by your obedient servant, 

W. H. SIDELL, Principal Engineer. 


(B.) 

Extracts from a Report to the Chief Engineer of Panama Rail¬ 
road, by Dr. M. B. Halstead , Surgeon of the Survey. New 
York , August 1849. 

Sir : At a former date I gave you a brief report of the health 
of the surveying corps under your charge on the Isthmus of Pa¬ 
nama, with a few general remarks in reference to the climate on 
that portion of the continent. Our experience at that time had 
been limited to the most pleasant, and probably to the most salu¬ 
brious portion of the year, so that we were by no means capable 
of judging what the condition of things might be, when the rains 
commenced, and the earth and air were filled with moisture. 

All former travellers had given such accounts of the terrible 
insalubrity of the land, that we looked forward with some anxiety 
to the month when the cool N. E. winds should cease, and to be 
succeeded by the sultry breezes, and fitful showers, that mark the 



63 


commencement of winter, i. e., the rainy season. During the first 
months of our exploration, we were daily visited by the refresh¬ 
ing trade winds from the Atlantic, which detracted much from 
the ardent heat of an almost vertical sun; in May , these were 
followed by variable winds from the opposite quarter, S. and S. E.; 
the air became sultry and oppressive, with short but drenching 
showers of hourly occurrence: it was the commencement of the 
season we had feared so much. Although our parties were still at 
work, alternately drenched and exposed to the sun, which shone 
with intense power, for the first few weeks little increase of 
sickness was observed, still it soon became evident, that northern 
constitutions could not withstand working in the breathless at¬ 
mosphere, from the mere languor and depression resulting from 
increased temperature. 

The year in this as in almost all tropical countries is divided 
into two portions, the dry and the wet. The former is so called, 
because little or no rain falls during its continuance, from De¬ 
cember until May; the latter, however, which is much the lon¬ 
gest, is characterised by incessant showers; swelling the streams 
and rendering the country almost impassible. Two very singu¬ 
lar phenomena have long been noticed, relative to these rains. 
The first is, they generally begin on the Chagres and the Atlan¬ 
tic slope many days before they make their appearance in Pana¬ 
ma, on the Pacific side ; and yet the two places are scarce forty 
miles asunder, nor are they seperated by high continuous ranges 
of mountains. The second is still more remarkable. About the 
twentieth day of June the rains cease, the clouds pass away, 
and the sun shines out bright, and cheerfully, as before, lasting 
from eight to ten days. The natives call this, “ el veranito de de 
San Juan” the little summer of San Juan. These changes from 
dryness to extreme moisture cannot fail to have a very marked 
effect upon disease. In the months of summer, intermittent, and re¬ 
mittent fevers are most common: in June, July, August and Septem¬ 
ber, when the streams are swollen and turbid with washings of 
the soil, and vegetable matters, dysenteries prevail: but it is not 
until November, when the sun acts with power upon the satu¬ 
rated earth and the material left by the receding waters, that 
miasma is exhaled in this, as in all other countries under similar 
circumstances, and that the severer, forms of bilious fever are met 
with. 

Location has of course much to do with the salubrity of 
towns and villages a most marked example is the difference 
that exists between Porto Bello and Panama. The one is situ¬ 
ated at the head of a beautiful harbor, surrounded by high moun¬ 
tains, which not only prevent the wind circulating through the 
streets, but act as it were for immense reverberators to collect 
and retain the heat. So notoriously unhealthy was this place, 
during the Spanish domination, that it received the fearful appel¬ 
lation of “ la sepultura de los Europenos” the sepulchre of Euro¬ 
peans. But how far this mortality may have been connected with 


64 


drinking and dissipation report sayeth not. Panama, on the Pa- 
cific, nearly surrounded by the ocean, enjoys an equality of tem¬ 
perature and salubrity of climate very remarkable so near the 
equator. Its population (city and suburb) is nearly ten thou¬ 
sand; in the year 1848, the deaths reported numbered only 
sixty-two. There are but few cities in the United States that 
can show a less mortality. Nor is Panama singular in its health¬ 
fulness. The little villages of Cruces and Gorgona , close upon 
the immediate line of the road to be constructed, with the large 
town of Chorera to the west, are alike noted. Epidemics are of 
rare occurrence, the yellow fever, (the vomito prieto or black vo¬ 
mit of the Spaniards,) that desolates the coast towns of Mexico 
on both oceans, has never been known on the isthmus ; nor was 
that dreadful scourge the cholera seen there in 1832 : the present 
year, however, it has created sad havoc in Chagr4, Porto Bello, 
and along the banks of the Rio Chagr£, but its virulence seems 
to have abated before reaching Panama. It is perhaps worth re¬ 
marking that the cholera was imported into Chagre. In the 
month of May, the steamer Colonel Stanton arrived from New 
Orleans with passengers ; seven had died on the voyage, and many 
Were sick at the time ol landing. A few days afterwards the 
cholera broke out in Chagr£, committing fearful ravages, and 
every village or hamlet along the river banks at which these 
emigrants stopped in the course of their journey were succes¬ 
sively visited by the disease. At Gorgona it raged with terrible 
vigor amongst the improvident and poorly clad natives. The 
whole surveying party was at that time collected in Gorgona, 
and were in the midst of the greatest mortality-—they one and all 
escaped. The rationale I leave to those better acquainted with 
the history of cholera to deduce. I believe too this apparent ex¬ 
emption was also noticed amongst the Americans then awaiting 
passage to California. 

The town of Chagr6 situated beneath high hills, on low wet 
ground, has shared equally with Porto Bello the reputation of 
being the most unhealthy place in the World; the evening air 
was considered as fatal as the fabled Upas tree ; no white man 
could sleep a night on shore and live. What change it may have 
undergone in recent years I do not know, but of a surety many 
of the engineers and a host of emigrants slept night after night 
on both sides of the river, departing, as far as I am aware, with¬ 
out a single death from disease (other than the cholera) contract¬ 
ed there. Yet I by no means intend to assert that Chagre may 
not be unhealthy, more so than even Tampico or Vera Cruz, since 
disease will always prevail, and the most malignant miasma be 
generated amongst a people living so notoriously filthy and not 
unfrequently dissipated lives. 

The topography of the isthmus is such as would lead us to infer 
a healthy climate. To be sure no high snow mountains are here 
to cool the air and add grandeur to the landscape; the whole 
country, however, devoid of swamps, (excepting near the Atlantic,) 


65 


is a congeries of lofty bills and deep valleys, watered by cleat* 
streams, flowing over pebble bottoms ; beside abundant springs of 
delicious taste and freshness. The banks of the Rio Chagr6, with 
its bold hills of trap covered with trees and climbing plants, pre¬ 
sents a scene of more than usual tropical beauty. 

It would require far more space than the limits of this report 
allows, to give little else than a partial enumeration of the vegeta¬ 
ble wealth nature has so bountifully lavished on this land. The 
’country is one vast forest from ocean to ocean, and were the means 
of transportation opened, an immense revenue might be derived 
from the groves of mahogony, cedar, and lignum vitae that abound 
amongst the mountains, with many woods that would be of great 
beauty for cabinet work, as the ebony, cocobolo, and jacaranda or 
bastard rosewood. Dye woods are not wanting. Fustic is abun¬ 
dant ; Nicaragua and Brazil wood are occasionally met with, 
and logwood is said to grow along the coast. The indigo plant 
grows well, the product equalling in color the best East Indian; 
but want of energy amongst the people has prevented its cultiva¬ 
tion for the purposes of export. Among trees the palms are an 
abundant class ; from the lofty cocoa and the palma real, which pro¬ 
duces wine and sago, to the humble palma portorico, whose delicate 
fan-like leaves furnish the material from which is manufactured 
the well known Panama hat. Although not serviceable as timber, 
yet, with the exception of the plaintain and banana, the palm is 
perhaps the most useful of trees to the native. Its trunk furnishes 
him the walls, and the long thick leaves the covering for his hut. 
From the strong wood of the cocoa he makes his bow, and the 
hard cana brava serves instead of iron to tip his arrows for war 
or the chase. The palma chunga gives him a fragrant oil for his 
lamp, and the cocoa furnishes both food and raiment. The plan¬ 
tain and banana “ are well esteemed among the most valuable 
gifts bestowed upon the inhabitants of the hotter portions of the 
globe.” Its easy culture and abundant produce, with its nutritious 
qualities, render it the main support of half the people. When 
roasted it serves as bread, when boiled as potatoes ; dried and 
pounded into meal, it is mixed with the manihot to make the 
casava bread; the fibres of the stem are twisted into very strong 
cordage. An intoxicating liquor similar to arrach is obtained by 
distillation. “ The average produce of a plantain is about thirty 
or forty pounds of fruit, but not infrequently between sixty and 
eighty pounds ; and as the Indian finay reckon on four crops in the 
year, a single tree yields at least more than one hundred pounds 
of fruit in that time. There is scarcely any other plant that pro¬ 
duces such a quant ity of fruit on an equally small space of ground.” 

Although the soil is so fertile, yet agriculture has been sadly 
neglected. The cultivation of the cereals, wheat,* &c.,has never 
been attempted. Corn and rice are the staples, repaying a hun¬ 
dred fold. Sugar cane, though more luxuriant than on the plan- 
5 


66 


tations of Louisiana, is not made to produce sugar sufficient 
enough for home consumption. Coffees, the cocoa, cotton, yams, 
and sweet potatoes, may be had for the trouble of planting. The 
Peta plant, a species of agave, yields a flax as beautiful as the 
Pina, from which the Chinese manufacture a delicate grass 
cloth. In the market of Panama, nearly all the variety of deli¬ 
cious fruits belonging to the tropics can be seen. The pine apple, 
limes, oranges, with delicious mangoes and chirimoyas, sapotes, 
guavas, custard apples and alligator pears, grow wild or with 
little care or attention from the native. A long list of valuable 
timber trees might be added, but as little is known of the dura¬ 
bility of most of them, when exposed to the combined attacks of 
air, moisture, and insects, I shall but speak of the few best known 
and most used—the mahogany, cedar, and lignum vitae, have al¬ 
ready been mentioned—the espabe, coro-tee, and the immense but¬ 
tress tree of Humboldt, the “Bombax,” whose vast girth rivals 
the chesnut of iEtna—one near Gorgona measuring one hundred 
and ten feet in circumference—are used in making canoes and 
bungoes. I have seen bungoes in the harbor of Panama that 
would carry fifteen to twenty tons. Some adventurous Califor¬ 
nians even sailed for San Francisco in them. The Nisperos, a spe¬ 
cies of Mespilas—similar to the Medlartree of Europe—is much 
used in the construction of houses. It is hard and close-grained, 
and not very liable to be attacked by insects. Algaroba is most 
excellent timber, and very common ; it is resinous, and endures 
exposure well. Cacique, “ one of the finest and most durable woods 
of South America.” “ The Quejada, Quira, and Madroha are all 
fine large trees, with compact wood, and durable.” “The scale of 
vegetation is immense, trunks of enormous thickness rise more 
than eighty and a hundred feet in height, their laps so closely in¬ 
terlaced that not a sunbeam can reach the rich soil underneath, 
which is generally so thickly covered with lower plants that one 
cannot take a step without first, axe in hand, hewing out a path.” 
But not only does the soil sustain this great mass of vegetable 
life, the trunks of the trees themselves teem with parasites and 
creeping plants. The fragrant vanilla and the gorgeous form of 
orchides are every where met with—rare and beautiful ferns, Ly- 
godiums, hang in graceful festoons, adding beauty even to the 
palm. 

I have the honor to be, respectfully, 

M. B. HALSTED, 
Surgeon Panama Survey^ 


* Capt. George says that the experiment of growing wheat was perfectly successful..—G. W. H. 



67 

(C.) 


Panama, May Utth, 1849. 

Col. Geo. W. Hughes, 

Chief Engineer Panama Railroad : 

Dear Sir: In compliance with your request I take pleasure in 
furnishing you with the following determinations made during my 
detention on this isthmus. I have been aided by Lt. Whipple 
and Mr. Nooney. The place of observation was the N. W. Bas¬ 
tion of the fortifications surrounding the city of Panama, and is 
North of the Cathedral 2."75, and West of 6."8 (in arc.) 

Latitude, North 8° 57' 12."15 

Longitude 5 h, 17 m, 57.6,9, West of Greenwich. 

Same in arc 79° 29' 24."4 
Magnetic decl’n 6° 54' 37" East. 

Dip, 32° 00' 00" 

Intensity, 0.87507, uncorrected for difference of temperature. 
Intensity at Falmouth, England, taken as unity. 

The observations for latitude were made with a Zenith Teles^ 
cope, with focal length of 42 inches; and those for longitude with 
a Telescope by Meers & Sohn of 56 inches focal length, and a 
small portable Transit by Troughton & Simms. The magnetic 
forces were observed with a Fox magnetic instrument. 

The Longitude of Chagre, which I determined by the trans¬ 
portation of five Chronometers, in the steam-ship Northerner, 
from New York, is 5 h, 20 m, 05.45 west of Greenwich, or, express¬ 
ed in arc, 80° 01' 21". 

From March 22d to May 12th the maximum temperature was 
89° Fahrenheit, which occurred April 25th. The minimum during 
the same period was 65°5 Fahrenheit, occurring March 27th and 
April 5th, 1849. The mean temperature during the same period 
was nearly 80° J?, 

I am, truly yours, 

WM. H. EMORY, 

Bt. Major Corps of Topographical Engineers. 

Note. —On the 12th and 13th of April, 1849, the sun was nearly 
vertical at Panama. 


Page 8, 1st paragraph, 16th line, for “province” read ^ravine.’* 


10, 2d 

ft 

7th 

ti 

“ corrected” read “ connected.” 

14, 1st 

if 

6 th 

it 

“ argillacious” read “argillaceous.” 

15, 3d 

it 

3d 

it 

“Livons” read “Lions.” 

15, 3d 

it 

5th 

it 

“reders”read “renders.” 

17, 4 th 

it 

3d 

it 

“ termnii” read “termini.” 

18, 3d 

it 

7th 

if 

* * acute” read * ‘ accurate. ” 

19, 1st 

it 

1st 

it 

“ omotepe” read “ omotopee.” 

28, 1st 

a 

4 th 

if 

“ popogayos” read ‘ * Papagayos. ” 

29, 2d 

a 

26th 

it 

“ carbonate lime” read “ carbonate of lime.” 

32, 1st 

it 

9th 

ft 

“northeasterly” read “southeasterly.” 

33, 3d 

it 

11th 

it 

“Gratun”read “Gatun.” 

42, 3d 

it 

3d 

it 

“H. M.” read “ H. B. M.” 

47, 4th 

it 

9th 

it 

“ Buccaniers” read “ Buccaneer.” 

48, 3d 

it 

2d 

if 

“ Buccaniers” read “ Buccaneer.” 

48, 4th 

ft 

4th 

it 

“ transported” read “ transported.” 

50, 1st 

it 

28th 

it 

“train” read “trains.” 

56, 2d 

a 

33d 

it 

“ Doiminico” read “Dominico.” 


•Appendix A, should have been headed “Extracts.” 


























































































































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